The number of patients hospitalized as a result of covid-19 in Arkansas reached a record high of 515 on Sunday as new covid-19 cases increased by 637, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.
An additional 16 people were hospitalized between Saturday and Sunday, the department reported. Two more patients have been placed on ventilators, for a current total of 106.
In an interview Sunday, state epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Dillaha said, "Of course, we are concerned whenever we have high numbers of hospitalizations."
She added that officials are hoping what could become a downward trend in new cases might lead to a similar trend in hospitalizations, "although hospitalizations usually lag a couple of weeks behind the case numbers."
Six additional deaths brought the state's reported toll to 464.
Two deaths occurred in Crittenden County and one death each occurred in Pulaski, Lawrence, Logan and Sebastian counties, according to Department of Health spokeswoman Danyelle McNeill.
The number of active cases in the state rose by 91, from 6,679 to 6,770.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the latest figures from the Department of Health in a Twitter post on Sunday afternoon in which he urged residents not to be complacent, despite decreasing numbers of new cases over the past two days.
"We must continue to take this virus seriously and slow the spread in our communities," Hutchinson said on Twitter.
Arkansas has now experienced 43,810 cumulative infections, according to the Department of Health.
The number of new cases reported on Sunday represented a continuous decline from previous days. On Thursday, 791 new cases were reported, followed by 752 and 662 on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Ten of the new cases reported on Sunday were in correctional facilities.
With 5,410 tests conducted on Saturday, that figure was down compared with the state's typical testing pattern in June and July, when the number of daily tests often exceeded 6,000. In an email, McNeill said the positivity rate of tests on Saturday was 6.3%.
When asked where the outbreak appears to be headed in Arkansas, Dillaha said she was happy that the growth in new cases has not taken place in Northwest Arkansas, which experienced an early surge, but disappointed that cases are growing in the state's other regions.
"Right now, the highest growth rate is in the northeast, but it's not very much higher than southeast, southwest and Central," Dillaha said. "They're all pretty close together."
Dillaha suggested that continued growth in virus cases in the more rural parts of the state may be a factor. She said she has heard anecdotal reports of people in rural areas not practicing social distancing or wearing cloth face coverings.
"But now that we have a statewide mandate, perhaps that will encourage people to change and embrace that as a way to protect the members of their community," Dillaha said.
Hutchinson's statewide mask mandate was issued last month and went into effect on July 20.
Appearing on CNN's State of the Union program on Sunday morning, Hutchinson asserted that his decision not to shut down the state was the right call in spite of the ongoing wave of new infections.
Referring to the large number of covid-19 cases in Louisiana, Hutchinson said Gov. John Bel Edwards' stay-at-home order, issued by the Democratic governor in March, did not prevent another spike in new cases.
Case numbers in Louisiana are "going to peak again even at a higher level," Hutchinson said. He described the virus as "almost unpredictable."
[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]
"It spreads in unique ways," Hutchinson said. "And while we know that we need to have masks, that we need to socially distance, we're going to be dealing with this for some time, and so you can't shut down the economy."
The governor suggested that the state may place further restrictions on restaurants and bars as needed. The establishments currently must operate at a maximum of two-thirds capacity.