State posts smallest daily new covid case number since May

The number of people reported to be hospitalized with covid-19 in Arkansas rose for the first time in six days on Monday, even as the state posted its smallest daily increase cases since late May.

Meanwhile, for the second day in a row, the state didn't report any new deaths from covid-19, leaving the official death toll at 12,080.

A state Department of Health official said last week, however, that the department was no longer entering death information into its data system on Saturdays and Sundays.

Deaths that previously would have been entered on those days are now being entered on Mondays, meaning they will show up in state’s numbers on Tuesdays.

After hitting its lowest level in more than two months on Sunday, the number reported to be hospitalized rose Monday by seven, to 259, which was still down by 35 from its level a week earlier.

The state's count of cases rose by 142, which was down by 30 compared to the rise on Sunday and by 129 from the one the previous Monday.

It was the smallest daily increase in cases since May 30.

Already at its lowest level since the week ending June 6, the average daily increase in the state's case count over a rolling seven-day period fell Monday to 474.

With recoveries outpacing new cases, the number of cases in the state that were considered active fell by 627, to 6,045, the smallest number since June 9.

Dropping for the third day in a row, the number of the state's virus patients who were reported to be in intensive care fell Monday by six, to 40.

The reported number on ventilators, which didn't change Sunday, fell by three on Monday, to 17.