The state reported 981 new covid-19 cases Sunday, the lowest for a single day since the start of 2022, and hospitalizations have dropped for 11 straight days, yet Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted Sunday that the state still needs to be "mindful of the virus."
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Overall the state has 38,315 active cases, the lowest total since Jan. 5. Active cases dropped 2,754 since Saturday.
While hospitalizations and cases dropped, deaths continued to rise with 38 reported Sunday by the Arkansas Department of Health. Deaths often peak days, weeks or months after case-count peaks for illnesses, including covid-19 and influenza.
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The 38 deaths reported Sunday are the most reported on a Sunday since Jan. 24, 2021. Sunday typically is the lowest reporting day for data.
No covid-19 data was reported in the state on Jan. 30. There were 12 deaths reported two weeks ago on Jan. 23 and four deaths reported three weeks ago on Jan. 16.
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Overall the state has seen 9,831 deaths since the start of the pandemic and 794,342 total cases.
Hospitalizations dropped below 1,500 for the first time since Jan. 18 with a total of 1,493. Hospitalizations dropped by 19 since Saturday and those currently on ventilators dropped by one. There were 229 people on ventilators in the state Sunday.
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The number of hospitalizations continues to decline but still remains more than peaks during the summer delta variant and holidays of 2020. Those totals peaked at 1,371 in January 2021 and 1,459 in August.
Covid-19 tests also were down Sunday with 3,814 results given since Saturday. That's the lowest recorded since Dec. 26.
Health Department Communications Director Meg Mirivel said previously that cold weather and road conditions could be affecting the number of tests given in the state.
Hutchinson encouraged vaccinations Sunday by noting in his tweets that they prevent serious illness and hospitalizations.
There were 917 doses of the vaccine given since Saturday, with the total number of doses at 3.8 million in the state. About 1.5 million were fully vaccinated Sunday, with an increase of 400 since Saturday.
Pulaski County continued to lead the state for the most new cases with 129 reported Sunday. White County increased by 83 and Benton County by 75.