Arkansas reports more than 1,500 new covid cases; 31 more hospitalized

FILE — Andrea Jones, a registered nurse, administers a dose of the coronavirus vaccine Friday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences vaccine clinic at the Monroe Building in Little Rock. The drive-thru site will close at 4 p.m. next Friday. Testing will be available by appointment only beginning March 28 at the Monroe Building.
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)
FILE — Andrea Jones, a registered nurse, administers a dose of the coronavirus vaccine Friday at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences vaccine clinic at the Monroe Building in Little Rock. The drive-thru site will close at 4 p.m. next Friday. Testing will be available by appointment only beginning March 28 at the Monroe Building. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)

Arkansas' tally of hospitalized covid-19 patients rose Tuesday by 31 -- the largest one-day jump since January -- as the state's count of cases grew by more than 1,500.

The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by two, to 11,610.

After falling by two on Monday, the number hospitalized grew Tuesday to 337, its highest level since March 5.

The last time the number rose by more than 30 in a single day was Jan. 26, during the state's first surge of infections from the omicron variant.

After falling the previous four days, the number of covid-19 patients in intensive care in Arkansas grew Tuesday by 14, to 58, the largest one-day rise since Feb. 28.

The total number in intensive care as of Tuesday was still just below the recent high of 59 that the number reached on Thursday, however.

The 1,556 cases added to Arkansas' count Tuesday was more than twice the size of the one on Monday and five times the size of the daily increase a week earlier, following a slowdown in testing and reporting over the Fourth of July weekend.

Growing for the seventh day in a row, the average daily increase in the case count over a rolling seven-day period rose Tuesday to 1,506, the first time it had been above 1,500 since the week ending Feb. 15.

After dipping on Monday, the number of cases in the state that were considered active rose Tuesday by 316, to 14,795, which was still below a recent high of more than 15,000 cases that were active as of Sunday.

The number of the state's virus patients who were on ventilators, which grew by one on Monday, rose again Tuesday by five, to 13.

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