The Arkansas Department of Health reported 732 new covid-19 cases Saturday, down from the previous two days but still far above the average number before Memorial Day.
Five more people have died of the disease, raising the toll in the state to 399.
On Saturday, the number of active cases dropped below 7,000, to 6,499 people who have neither recovered nor succumbed to the virus, the state Health Department reported. That figure was down from 7,028 as of Friday.
The cumulative number of covid-19 cases in Arkansas since the start of the pandemic now stands at 37,981, according to the Health Department.
Twelve of the new cases reported Saturday were in correctional facilities, with the remaining 720 in the community, Meg Mirivel, a Health Department spokeswoman, said via email Saturday.
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The number of people hospitalized as a result of covid-19 decreased to 479 Saturday, down 18 from the day before, when the state recorded a new high.
The number of patients on ventilators declined by four, to 105, Mirivel said.
There were 5,861 covid-19 tests conducted Friday with a positivity rate of 7.3%, Mirivel said, though she added that the rate will be adjusted as more test results come in.
The state reported the second-highest single-day total of new cases Thursday, with 1,013, followed by 990 new cases Friday.
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Dr. Joel Tumlison, a Health Department physician consultant for outbreak response, called Saturday's new case total better in the context of the previous two days, but not better overall.
The state seems to have vacillated between 500 and 700 new cases per day for at least a couple of weeks, but when Arkansas will start to see a decline is "hard to predict," Tumlison said in a phone interview Saturday.
Calling the decrease of 18 hospitalizations "a significant drop," Tumlison said he has noticed that the percentage of people in the hospital who are on ventilators is much lower than it was about two months ago.
He wondered if hospitals have figured out how to treat patients in a different way that does not ultimately require the use of ventilators to help them breathe, even though there have been more people admitted to the hospital.
Nevertheless, Tumlison said the state will have to wait to see if the number of hospitalizations continues to trend downward over the next few days.
"If that were to occur, that would be good news for hospitals, and for all of us here in the state," he said.
A statewide mask mandate, with a few exceptions, took effect Monday per a July 16 executive order by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, amid surging case numbers in Arkansas and around the country.
Tumlison said "it would be unrealistic to expect to see any difference" as a result of the mask mandate until it's in effect at least two weeks.
One comment he has heard is that because there is a mask mandate in place, residents do not need to remain socially distanced, he said. That will not work, he said. "If we exchange one precaution for another one, we'll stay where we're at."
The state is unlikely to gain ground against the virus, even if everyone wears masks, if they do not attempt to stay socially distanced, he said.
"But if people continue to space out, if they continue to not go into big crowds of people, if we continue keeping ourselves 6 feet apart from each other, and we add masks on top of that when we're out in public, then I think that will make a difference."
The counties with the largest increases in new covid-19 cases Saturday were Pulaski County with 114, St. Francis County with 52, Washington County with 40, Sebastian County with 36, Craighead County with 36 and Benton County with 30.
Cases in Pope County increased by 17, in Crittenden County by 14, in Jefferson County by 13, in Sevier County by three and in Lincoln County by two.
There are now 942 active cases in Pulaski County, down from 978 the day before.
