The number of covid-19 patients in Arkansas hospitals fell to 1,633 on Sunday. It was the first day-to-day drop in that total since Christmas Day, when 467 Arkansans were hospitalized with the disease.
Arkansas' active cases of covid-19 also fell as fewer new cases were reported, prompting Gov. Asa Hutchinson to tweet that it was "a good start for the week."
Hospitalizations were down 26 from Saturday's record 1,659, according to data from the Arkansas Department of Health. The number of Arkansans hospitalized with the disease had mostly risen since Dec. 25, when hospitalizations fell from 491 to 467. The only day since then in which hospitalizations had not increased was Dec. 30, when they held steady at 585.
The Health Department on Sunday reported 3,804 new covid-19 cases, the smallest one-day increase since Tuesday and the smallest Sunday increase since Jan. 2. More people recovered from covid-19 than were diagnosed with it on Sunday, helping active cases fall to 100,797, down from Saturday's record 102,575.
“The decline in active cases and hospitalizations is a good start for the week,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted Sunday. “If you feel sick, get tested and stay home. We know the steps to take to protect ourselves and our neighbors.”
The state's tally of covid-19 deaths topped 9,500 on Sunday. Twelve more Arkansans have died from the disease, raising the death toll since March 2020 to 9,510.
More details in Monday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.