Arkansas reported 439 additional covid-19 cases on Monday afternoon, following a three-day holiday weekend that Gov. Asa Hutchinson said caused testing to dip.
The new cases increased the state’s total since the start of the pandemic to 24,523. Hospitalizations rose by 12, to 337 and another five people died, bringing the virus’ toll to 292, according to the governor.
Over the Independence Day weekend, Health Secretary Nate Smith said the total number of active cases in the state shrunk as recoveries outpaced new positive tests. At the same time, daily tests reports slunk to their lowest level in a month Monday, with only 3,615 results being recorded.
“Obviously the holiday weekend, Sunday, has an impact on that number,” Hutchinson said.
The governor said he would wait to see later this week whether Arkansas’ celebrations for Independence Day would result in an uptick of cases, though he said public health guidelines appeared to have been taken seriously by most.
“It’s easy to focus on those that were not compliant,” Hutchinson said. “There was a lot of good behavior over the weekend.”
Hutchinson and Smith said Monday that they were raising the goal for the number of coronavirus tests they hope to run in the state this month to 200,000.
EARLIER:
Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state health officials will provide an update on Arkansas' covid-19 response at 1:30 p.m.
The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Arkansas remained at 23,814 Monday morning, according to a state website. The death toll remained at 287.
Check back to watch the live video.
[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBNepPVvUGI]