Coronavirus cases across Arkansas continued to rise Thursday, with the highest number of new cases in a single day since February.
For the third day in a row, the increase in covid-19 cases reported by the Arkansas Department of Health topped 1,000. The 1,437 new cases tallied on Thursday brought the state's total case count to 865,592.
While the number of hospitalizations for the virus has increased in recent days, admissions have remained low relative to previous spikes, according to State Epidemiologist Mike Cima.
"We're not necessarily seeing a large increase in severe outcomes," he said during a Thursday interview.
Covid-19 patients in Arkansas hospitals increased by one Thursday to 242. The number of patients in intensive care dropped by one to 47, breaking with a three-day increase. The number of patients on ventilators remained at 12 on Thursday.
Baptist Health had 51 covid-19 patients across its hospitals in Arkansas on Thursday. Twelve of these patients were in intensive care units and six were on ventilators, according to Cara Wade, spokeswoman for the hospital system.
"As a comparison, our highest number was 368 patients hospitalized with covid-19 back in January. The severity of the illness is relatively mild compared to previous covid-19 surges," she said. "Our infectious-disease physicians continually monitor and pay attention to these numbers daily, but they do not have any concerns at this point."
Vaccines remain the most effective defense against the virus, Wade added.
State officials reported one additional death, bringing the total to 11,581. The newly added death occurred in February, according to Cima.
The rising case count is most likely due to the spread of the B.A.4 and B.A.5 omicron subvariants. The B.A.5 strain, in particular, is spurring most of the increase, said Cima.
Before the spike in cases reported Thursday, the most recent one-day increase came on June 23, when the case count rose by 1,434. Then on Tuesday, state officials reported a spike of 1,420 cases.
The virus appears to be spreading in all parts of the state, said Cima.
The number of Arkansas counties where federal officials advise wearing masks indoors shot up from three to 14 on Thursday.
In a weekly assessment of new covid-19 cases, coronavirus hospitalization admissions and the number of hospital beds in use, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified Cleburne, Desha, Jackson, Jefferson, Sebastian, Arkansas, Crawford, Baxter, Bradley, Clark, Hot Spring, Marion, Monroe and White counties as having "high covid-19 community levels."
Desha County had the highest number of covid-19 cases per 10,000 people at slightly more than 40 cases. Arkansas and Monroe counties had the highest number of covid-19 hospitalization admissions with 3.72 admissions per 10,000 people.
The federal assessment last week only listed Baxter, Ashley and Chicot counties as having "high" covid-19 community levels. The latest update classified Chicot County as having a "low" level and Ashley County as having a "medium" level.
Some of the week-to-week variations may be attributed to low populations in certain Arkansas counties. In some cases, just a couple of infections might be enough to push a community from a "low" to "high" covid-19 community level, according to Cima. As the virus continues to spread across the state, Cima expected fewer counties to bounce between community levels.
For the state's most populous counties, including Pulaski, Faulkner, Saline, Craighead, Washington counties, community levels were "medium." In Benton County, the community level was "low."
Along with wearing masks indoors, the CDC recommends residents in "high" level communities take precautions for people at high risk of severe illness. At all three community levels, the CDC recommends getting tested at the onset of covid-19 symptoms and staying up to date with coronavirus vaccines.
People in "medium" level communities should talk to their health care providers about whether they should wear a mask and take other precautions, according to CDC guidelines.
The CDC doesn't have a recommendation on masking in counties with "low" levels.