Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases rose Tuesday by 441 -- the second-highest one-day increase since March -- even as the number of the state's virus patients who were on ventilators fell to a new 26-month low.
After topping 70 on Monday for the first time in more than a month, the number of covid-19 patients in the state's hospitals fell Tuesday by one, to 72.
Arkansas' death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by five, to 11,451.
Health Department spokeswoman Danyelle McNeill said a total of 11 deaths were added to the state's count, and six were removed after it was determined they were unrelated to covid-19.
Of the ones that were added, one happened within the last month, she said. The others occurred in December, January and February.
The increase in cases on Tuesday was about five times the size of the one on Monday and larger by 154 than the one the previous Tuesday.
Except for the spike of 462 cases on May 18, it was the largest one-day increase since March 22, a time when the state's new case numbers were inflated by a backlog of reports faxed in by providers weeks earlier, during a surge of infections from the omicron variant.
The average daily increase in the state's case count over a rolling seven-day period rose Tuesday to 307, the first time it had been above 300 since the week ending March 27.
After dipping a day earlier, the number of cases in the state that were considered active rose by 175, to 3,253, as new cases outnumbered recoveries. It was the largest active case total since March 6.
Dropping for the second day in a row, the number of the state's virus patients who were on ventilators fell from six as of Monday to three.
It was the smallest number since at least March 25, 2020, when the Health Department reported that the state had four patients on ventilators out of a total of 12 who were hospitalized.
The number of covid-19 patients who were in intensive care, which rose the previous two days, fell Tuesday by five, to 15, which was tied with the number on April 26, April 30, May 1, Thursday and Saturday for the smallest number since at least May 2020.
VACCINATIONS CITED
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center had 11 covid-19 patients on Tuesday, including five who were fully vaccinated, spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said.
She said none of the 11 patients were on ventilators or in intensive care.
"We have had very few patients on ventilators in the past several weeks," she said.
Compared to previous versions of the coronavirus, she said the omicron variant, which remains dominant in Arkansas and worldwide, is less likely to cause people to need intensive care or to be on a ventilator.
The protection afforded by vaccines and immunity gained through previous infections have also reduced the number of patients going onto the breathing machines, she said.
In an emailed statement, State Epidemiologist Mike Cima said the "widespread availability of antivirals," such as Pfizer's Paxlovid pill, may also be a factor.
"Also, hospitalizations aren't that high, so this ratio isn't that strange," he said.
At its hospitals in Little Rock and Springdale, Arkansas Children's had two covid-19 patients on Tuesday, down from three as of Friday, spokeswoman Hilary DeMillo said in an email.
She said she couldn't provide additional details, such as whether either patient on Tuesday was on a ventilator, because "those specifics can be interpreted as identifying information" when the total number hospitalized is so small.
In Arkansas and nationwide, a recent upward trend in new cases has been blamed in part on a more-transmissible omicron strain known as BA.2.12.1.
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates updated Tuesday, the strain accounted for 57.9% of new coronavirus cases across the country last week, up from 49.4% the previous week.
CASES BY COUNTY
Within Arkansas, Pulaski County had the most new cases, 84, on Tuesday, followed by Washington County with 56, Benton County with 37, Sebastian County with 23 and Greene County with 21.
The state's cumulative count of cases since March 2020 rose to 841,119.
The Health Department's tally of vaccine doses that had been administered rose by 1,606, which was down by 132 from the daily increase a week earlier.
About 45% of the most recent increase was from doses classified on the Health Department's online coronavirus dashboard as not having an "available dose number."
That's how the department is listing second booster doses, which were authorized in March for people who are 50 or older or have compromised immune systems.
The count of doses for people receiving the vaccine for the first time rose Tuesday by 307, which was smaller by 144 than the increase in first doses a week earlier.
After rising the previous four days, the average number of total doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period fell Tuesday to 1,482, which was still up from an average of fewer than 1,400 a day the previous week.
The average for first doses fell to 330.
According to the CDC, the percentage of Arkansans who had received at least one dose remained Tuesday at 67%, and the percentage who were fully vaccinated remained at 54.7%.
The percentage of those fully vaccinated who had received a booster dose remained at 40.1%.
Among the states and District of Columbia, Arkansas continued to rank 37th in the percentage of its residents who had received at least one dose.
In the percentage who were fully vaccinated, it remained roughly tied with Tennessee for 46th, ahead of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Wyoming.
Nationally, 77.8% of people had received at least one dose, and 66.6% were fully vaccinated.
Of the fully vaccinated population nationally, 46.6% had received a booster dose.