The Arkansas Department of Health announced that COVID-19 cases in Arkansas increased by 636 on Monday.
The state announced 44 new deaths as a result of the virus, bringing the toll in the state to 4,650 since the pandemic began.
The number of new cases was significantly lower then the 7-day average of 1,777 cases recorded over the last week (according to @ArkansasCovid on Twitter), but as governor Asa Hutchinson noted in a Tweet about today’s case report, testing in the state was also down over the last 24 hours.
“While we saw a significant decline in new cases, our testing was also lower,” he said. “An additional 44 deaths & a slight increase in hospitalizations remind us of the challenge we face with this pandemic & what happens if we don’t follow (health department) guidelines.”
Of the new cases added Monday, 69 are from Washington County and 66 come from Benton County.
Hospitalizations were up 4, bringing the total number of Arkansans hospitalized with the virus to 1,084. There are 187 Arkansans on ventilators, up 17 from yesterday.
There are currently 17,792 cases of COVID-19 considered active in the state, which includes those that have tested positive by both PCR and antigen testing methods. This number has been on the decline recently.
The state reported 6,486 new PCR tests on Monday, along with 357 new antigen tests.
The new cases bring the total cumulative count in Arkansas to 284,702 since the pandemic began.
The state announced it has vaccinated 2,649 Arkansans since last count yesterday, bringing the total number of doses given in the state to 214,617. In addition, a federal program to vaccinate long-term care residents resulted in an additional 2 people vaccinated in the state.
The state began vaccinating the 1-B priority group last week, which includes individuals over 70 years of age, and workers in education including higher ed, K-12, and daycare. Local pharmacies, including Collier Drug, Medical Arts Pharmacy, and Heartland Pharmacy in Fayetteville will vaccinate those in the 70 and older group, and some education workers. Others will be vaccinated through mass clinics organized by their employers.
Here are links/info for the waiting lists for pharmacies in NWA for the 1-A and early 1-B group:
» Collier Drug Stores – Email [email protected]
» Medical Arts Pharmacy – Visit this website
» Community Pharmacy – Visit this website
A list of other pharmacies around the state vaccinating right now is available here.
The top counties for new cases announced Monday were Pulaski (138), Washington (69), Benton (66), Craighead (33), and Jefferson (29).
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