FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas on Wednesday posted its highest increases in new coronavirus cases and active cases since April 21, and the number of active cases reached a six-week high.
The state’s count of cases rose by 298, a slightly larger increase than the one the day before and the previous Wednesday, April 28.
Active cases rose by 109 on Wednesday, reaching 2,152. It’s the largest number since March 23, when 2,263 covid-19 cases were considered active.
After rising by 20 on Tuesday, the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 fell by 11, to 181.
The number of virus patients who were on ventilators, however, rose by seven, to 35. It was the first time that number had topped 30 since March 26.
The state’s death toll from the virus since March 2020, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, rose by two, to 5,754.
“Our case numbers are similar to last week, continuing the trend we’ve seen for weeks,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement Wednesday. “While these numbers are lower than the first few months of this year, we can still work to lower them even further by getting vaccinated and encouraging your neighbors to do the same.”
The increase in new cases was the largest in one day since a spike of 352 on April 21. The increase in active cases was also the largest since April 21, when 139 additional cases were considered active in the state.
Already at its highest level since late March, the average daily increase over a rolling-seven day period rose by one, to 210.
Meanwhile, the pace of vaccinations continued to slow.
The Health Department reported that the number of vaccine doses that had been administered, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, rose by 14,426.
That was almost 3,800 doses lower than the number the previous Wednesday.
The average numbered of doses administered per day over a rolling seven-day period fell to under 12,300, its lowest level since Feb. 25 and down from a peak of more than 23,000 during the week that ended April 7.
More details in Thursday’s Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
