The Arkansas Department of Health reported 11,596 new cases of covid-19 on Saturday, the second-highest daily increase ever and an increase of more than 40% from the new cases reported on the same day last week.
With new cases outpacing deaths and recoveries, the number of currently infectious covid-19 cases in Arkansas topped 90,000 for the first time ever. The report of 94,266 active cases on Saturday is an increase of more than 36,000, or 64%, from the number reported on the same day last week.
The state Health Department has recorded 675,790 cases of covid-19 since March 2020. Of those, more than one in eight are currently active.
The number of Arkansans who are hospitalized with covid-19 rose by 48 on Saturday, reaching 1,357, the 20th-highest level of the pandemic.
The all-time record for new daily cases was set Thursday, with 12,990. The all-time record for hospitalizations was set Aug. 16, with 1,459.
Of the 1,357 Arkansans hospitalized Saturday with covid, 373 were in intensive care. However, seven fewer patients were on ventilators as of Saturday, the first drop in a week. The Health Department reported 165 ventilators in use for state covid patients.
Pulaski County had 1,347 new cases on Saturday, the fewest in a single day since Monday. Benton County had 885 new cases, and Washington County had 853, according to Health Department data.
The state recorded 17 new deaths from covid-19, raising the official death toll for Arkansas since March 2020 to 9,430.
More details in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.