Possibly reflecting a slowdown in testing and reporting around the federal Juneteenth holiday, Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases rose Monday by 251, the first daily increase in six days that was smaller than the one a week earlier.
After rising the previous two days, the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 fell by 15, to 181.
For the third time in four days, the state didn't report any new deaths from covid-19. The state's death toll, as tracked by the Department of Health, remained at 11,540.
The increase in cases was less than half the size of the one a day earlier and smaller by 81 than the daily rise a week earlier.
Due to slowdowns in testing and reporting over the weekends, the state's daily case increases tend to be smaller on Sundays and Mondays than during the rest of the week.
The Juneteenth holiday on Sunday, which caused some government offices and businesses to be closed on Monday, may have also affected Monday's new case numbers.
Previously at its highest level since February, the average daily increase in the Arkansas' case count over a rolling seven-day period fell Monday to 715.
With recoveries outnumbering new cases, the number of cases in the state that were considered active fell by 456, to 8,307.
After not changing the previous three days, the number of the state's virus patients who were on ventilators rose by four, to 13, the largest number since May 4.
The number who were in intensive care, which fell by one on Sunday, rose by seven, to 33. It was the first time the number had been above 30 since April 7.
