Covid-19 cases in Arkansas were still on the upswing Saturday, with the state Health Department reporting 2,371 new cases in the past week.
It was the highest number of new cases for a seven-day period in Arkansas since the week ending March 26, when the Health Department was still adding its backlog of omicron variant cases from January and February to its database.
The department recorded 376 new cases Saturday, 27 more than Friday's increase and 83 more than the May 21 increase.
Arkansas has seen a total of 842,815 covid-19 cases since March 2020.
Pulaski County saw the most new cases Saturday with 66, followed by Washington County with 45 and Benton County with 42, according to Health Department data.
Active, or currently infectious, cases also continued to climb. The Health Department recorded 777 new active cases in the past week, including 183 on Saturday. The total of 3,946 was the highest total number of active cases since the 4,100 reported on March 3.
The state's covid-19 death toll reached 11,478, with seven added Saturday, and 40 in the past week.
Hospitals saw a slight drop in covid-19 patients Saturday. The 65 patients were five fewer than Friday and two more than May 21.
The number of patients on ventilators rose by one, totaling four, but was still four fewer than on May 21. The two reported on May 26 was the lowest recorded number of ventilator users since the first month of the pandemic.
The 14 patients in intensive care Saturday were one more than Friday and one fewer than May 21.
Demand for covid-19 vaccines appeared to be trending downward, with 1,368 fewer shots given in the past week than from May 15 to 21.
The state reported that 1,520 shots were administered in Arkansas on Saturday, 87 fewer than Friday and 326 fewer than May 21.
The Health Department recorded 339 new booster shots Saturday and 1,834 boosters given in the past week.
There are 1,595,736 Arkansans fully vaccinated against covid-19, according to the Health Department.