State's active virus cases rise to 2,144, highest level in over a month

In this April 27, 2020 file photo, Gov. Asa Hutchinson takes off his Arkansas Razorbacks facemask as he arrives for the daily coronavirus briefing at the state Capitol in Little Rock.
In this April 27, 2020 file photo, Gov. Asa Hutchinson takes off his Arkansas Razorbacks facemask as he arrives for the daily coronavirus briefing at the state Capitol in Little Rock.

The number of active coronavirus cases in Arkansas rose to its highest level in more than a month on Tuesday as the state's total case count rose by 302.

The increase in total cases was the sixth in a row that was larger than the one a week earlier.

After falling a day earlier, the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 rose by one, to 204.

The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by six, to 5,869.

Tuesday's increase was larger by 71 than the one the previous Tuesday and the biggest one-day jump since a spike of 393 cases on Friday.

Already at its highest level since March 22, the average number of cases added to the state's tallies each day over a rolling seven-day period rose to 235.

At his weekly news conference, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said infections that occurred over Memorial Day weekend could be contributing to the uptick.

"It’s a little bit hard to say, because we really have just moved back to a normal society in Arkansas life, whether it's sports, school, or whether it’s work, and so all of that increased activity would have a bearing on it, but there's only one thing that we can do, is to encourage vaccinations, and we’re doing that every day," Hutchinson said. "We put incentives in place. We’ve got our public messaging, so it’s really up to the public.

"Our hands are limited, and it's a matter of responsibility and everybody taking the action that they need to."

With new cases outpacing recoveries, the number of cases in the state that were considered active rose by 109, to 2,144, its highest level since May 9.

Meanwhile, the number of vaccine doses that providers reported having administered, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, rose by 6,502, according to the Health Department.

That was larger by 369 than the increase the previous Tuesday.

At almost 5,400, the average number of doses administered each day over the past seven days was still down from the average of 5,570 a day the previous week and well below the peak of more than 23,000 a day in early April.

EARLIER:

Gov. Asa Hutchinson will provide his weekly media update at 1:30 p.m.

Hutchinson will discuss the Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me (ARHOME) waiver application, as well cybersecurity and other "topics of the day," according to a news release by the governor's office.

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