The number of active covid-19 cases in Arkansas continued to decline Sunday as the state Department of Health recorded a drop of 109, bringing the total down to 4,817 people on record as having the virus.
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The state Health Department also reported 221 new cases from Saturday, for a total of 513,215 Arkansans who have been infected by the coronavirus since the the first case in the state was recorded in March 2020.
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Total deaths rose by six, to 8,376, statewide.
The Health Department recorded 329 hospitalizations on Sunday, down 12 from the previous day, but the number of patients on ventilators rose by three, to 93. The number of patients in intensive care units fell by one, to 154.
Since Oct. 24, the total number of covid-19 infections in Arkansas has risen by 2,970 and the state has recorded an additional 95 deaths due to the disease. However, active cases have dropped by 610, hospitalizations have dropped by 62 and the number of patients requiring a ventilator has dropped in the past week by 22.
Since Oct. 1, when the state had 9,988 active cases with 703 Arkansans hospitalized and 190 on ventilators, active cases have fallen by 5,171, the number of people hospitalized dropped by 374 and the number of people on ventilators fell by 97.
Total covid-19 infections during the month rose by 16,281 and the state recorded 658 deaths, according to state health officials.
Another 5,810 received vaccinations since Saturday, the department said.
Health Department figures on Sunday indicated that 54.7% of eligible Arkansans -- those 12 and up -- have been fully immunized against covid-19, and another 287,077 people, or 11.2% of the total of eligible people, have been partially immunized.
The Health Department said on Sunday that 153,651 Arkansans have received a booster dose of the vaccine. The total number of fully immunized individuals rose by 59,164 since Oct. 1 to 1,398,279, an increase of 12,462 since Oct. 24, and up nearly 60,000 since the first of the month.
As of Sunday, 3,140,801 doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the state, which is 75% of the 4,170,520 doses the state has received.
In a tweet Sunday afternoon, Gov. Asa Hutchinson praised the gains made throughout the month but said, "... we must continue our progress against the virus."
"In the month of October we have decreased our active cases by more than 5,000, dropped our hospitalizations by nearly 400, and have fully immunized 59,164 Arkansans," he said in the tweet. "A great report for the month."
Worldwide cases reported as of Sunday totaled nearly more than 246 million coronavirus infections, with nearly 46 million of those cases in the United States. Almost 5 million deaths due to coronavirus have been reported around the world. Deaths in the U.S. totaled 745,780 as of Sunday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.