The Arkansas Department of Health on Thursday tallied 1,437 new coronavirus cases in the state. The report comes exactly one week after the agency reported a spike of 1,434 cases, which was then the four-month high.
Thursday was the third consecutive day in which the increase in covid-19 cases topped 1,000. The last time that happened was Feb. 18, which was the fourth consecutive day of 1,000-plus increases.
Thursday's increase raised the state's total case count to 865,592. Of those, 842,383 cases are considered recovered.
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 admissions to Arkansas hospitals increased by one, to 242. The number of patients in intensive care dropped by one to 47, breaking with three days of increases. Twelve patients remained on ventilators on Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday.
State officials reported one additional death, raising the state's official death toll from the disease to 11,581. The most recently reported death occurred in February, according to 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 relative to its population, while per 100,000 people at nearly 405 cases. Arkansas and Monroe counties had the highest number of covid-19 hospitalizations relative to their populations.
Desha County had the highest number of covid-19 cases per 10,000 people, at just over 40. Arkansas and Monroe counties had the highest number of covid-19 hospitalization admissions per 10,000 people, with 3.72.
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.
For the state’s most populous counties, including Pulaski, Faulkner, Saline, Craighead and Washington counties, community levels were “medium;” while they have more cases than in Desha County, they also have many more people. In Benton County, the community level was “low.”
Along with wearing masks indoors, the CDC recommends that 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 provider about whether they should wear a mask and take other precautions, according to CDC guidelines.
The federal health agency doesn't have a recommendation regarding masks for "low" counties.
More details in Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.