The Arkansas Department of Health announced that COVID-19 cases in Arkansas increased by 2,944 on Friday.

The state announced 40 new deaths as a result of COVID-19, bringing the toll in the state to 3,966 since the pandemic began.

Of the new cases added Friday, 266 are from Washington County and 284 come from Benton County.

Hospitalizations increased by 16 on Friday, bringing the total number of Arkansans hospitalized with the virus to 1,342. There are 219 Arkansans on ventilators, up one from yesterday.

There are currently a record 27,290 cases of COVID-19 considered active in the state, which includes those that have tested positive by both PCR and antigen testing methods.

The state reported 11,010 new PCR tests on Friday, along with 3,743 new antigen tests.

The new cases bring the total cumulative count in Arkansas to 248,860 since the pandemic began.

The state also announced it has vaccinated 7,177 Arkansans since last count yesterday, bringing the total number of Arkansans vaccinated to 65,911.

The state also announced it has received additional 20,475 doses of vaccine from the federal government.

The top counties for new cases announced Friday were Pulaski (378), Benton (284), Washington (266), Sebastian (145) and Faulkner (139).

Friday, Jan. 8

Thursday, Jan. 7

Jan. 8 vaccination report

Jan. 7 vaccination report