Resuming an upward trend that began a few days after Easter, Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases rose Friday by 391.
After rising by five on Thursday, the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 remained for a second day at 70.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, rose by three, to 11,471.
Health Department Director Jennifer Dillaha said that, as part of an ongoing review of death certificates, a total of nine deaths were added to the state's count, and six others were subtracted after it was determined that covid-19 wasn't a contributing factor.
Of the ones that were added, four were from October, one was from February, three were from March and one was from April, she said.
The increase in cases on Friday was larger by 18 than the one on Thursday and by 76 than the one the previous Friday.
After dipping a day earlier, the average daily increase in the state's case count over a rolling seven-day period rose to 327, its highest level since the week ending March 26.
With new cases outnumbering recoveries, the number of cases in the state that were considered active rose by 136, to 3,763, the largest total since March 3.
"We're still continuing the general upward trend," Dillaha said.
While new cases have started to level off or decline in some Northeast states, Dillaha said she was concerned about the potential for new versions of the omicron variant to prolong the uptick in Arkansas.
She said a report she received Tuesday indicated the state's first case caused by an omicron subvariant known as BA.4 had been identified.
According to the same report, the number of cases known to have been caused by another strain, BA.5, had grown from two to three.
Both subvariants have been blamed for a recent wave of infections in South Africa, which was among the first countries to be hit by the original omicron strain.
"When the omicron variant first went through there, maybe 90% of the people got infected, and then they're having another surge, so it's telling me that people are getting reinfected," Dillaha said.
In Arkansas, gatherings over Memorial Day weekend also have the potential to accelerate the virus' spread, Dillaha said.
She people should stay home if they're sick. Even those who feel well should consider taking a covid-19 test and wearing a mask if they're going to be around people at risk of severe covid-19, she said.
She also recommended people avoid crowded indoor settings that aren't well ventilated and choose outdoor activities if possible.
After falling to just two on Thursday, the number of the state's virus patients who were on ventilators rose Friday to three.
Growing for the second day in a row, the number who were in intensive care rose by three, to 13.
CASES BY COUNTY
Pulaski County had the most new cases, 95, on Friday, followed by Washington County with 32, Faulkner County with 31 and Benton County with 24.
The state's cumulative count of cases since March 2020 rose to 842,439.
The Health Department's tally of vaccine doses that had been administered rose by 1,607, which was down by more than 200 from the daily increase a week earlier.
About 44% of the most recent increase was from doses classified on the 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 by 328, which was down by 186 from the increase in first doses a week earlier.
After rising slightly a day earlier, the average number of total doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period fell Friday to 1,335, which was down from an average of 1,464 a day the previous week.
The average for first doses fell to 287.
According to the CDC, the percentage of Arkansans who had received at least one dose remained Friday 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 fell from being roughly tied with Tennessee for 46th to 47th, 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, 46.7% had received a booster dose.