The coronavirus appeared to continue to spread rapidly in Arkansas over the weekend, with the state's count of cases rising by more than 2,500 over a three-day span, the number hospitalized virus patients rising by more than 100 and the state's death toll since the start of the pandemic topping 6,000.
The number of cases that were considered active topped 10,000 for the first time since Feb. 15.
"We saw good vaccine numbers over the weekend, with an increase of nearly 16,000 doses administered," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet.
"Unfortunately, we also saw an increase of over 100 hospitalizations. Nearly all patients hospitalized with covid-19 have not been fully vaccinated, so get your shot today."
The state's count of cases rose by 1,430 on Saturday, 579 on Sunday and 543 on Monday, for a total increase of 2,552.
That was more than 25% bigger than the increase over the same three days a week earlier.
[FIND OUT MORE ABOUT VACCINATION IN ARKANSAS AT: nwaonline.com/coronavirus/vaccine/]
The average number of cases added to the state's tallies each day over rolling seven-day period rose to a new five-month high of 1,113 as of Saturday before dipping Sunday, then rebounding to 1,094 as of Monday.
The number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 rose by five on Saturday, 22 on Sunday and 79 on Monday, bringing the total number to 787, its highest level since Feb. 5.
State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said the increase in hospitalizations on Monday was the state's largest in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
The number of virus patients who were on ventilators fell by three Saturday, then rose by the same number of Sunday and by 10 on Monday, bringing it to 129, its highest level since Feb. 10.
The number who were in intensive care rose over the three days by 51, to 291, its highest level since Feb. 4.
The state's death toll rose by 15, to 6,007.
Two of the deaths were reported Saturday, one was reported Sunday and 12 were reported Monday.
The number of cases that were considered active rose Saturday and Sunday, reaching a five-month high of 10,645, before falling to 10,505 as of Monday.
Health Department figures also indicated a continued uptick in the state's vaccinations. The number of doses administered over the three days, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, rose by 15,750.
That was more than 3,700 doses more than the increase during the same days a week earlier.
The average number of doses administered each day over a rolling seven day period rose to 6,279, its highest level since the week ending May 31.
Reflecting a decision last month to stop giving updates on weekends, Monday was the first time the Health Department had released information on cases, hospitalizations, deaths and other indicators since Friday.