Despite an uptick in Arkansas' new coronavirus case numbers, the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 fell Friday to its lowest level in almost two months.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by six, to 11,929.
Declining for the second day in a row, the number of covid-19 patients in the state's hospitals fell Friday by four, to 291, dropping below the previous recent low of 294 that it reached on Aug. 20.
It was the smallest the number hospitalized had been since July 6.
The state's count of cases rose by 1,219. While smaller by more than 100 than the increase on Thursday, it was larger by 38 than the one the previous Friday.
Already at its highest level since the week ending Aug. 5, the average daily increase in the state's case count over a rolling seven-day period rose to 990.
With new cases outpacing recoveries, the number of cases in the state that were considered active grew by 215, to 12,088, the first time it had been above 12,000 since Aug. 13.
After rising by two a day earlier, the number of covid-19 patients who were in intensive care fell by six, to 41, the smallest number since June 28.
The number on ventilators, which rose by three on Thursday, fell Friday by five, to nine, the first time it had been in the single digits since July 11.
