LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – The number of active coronavirus cases in Arkansas remained above 27,000 on Sunday after hitting a record-high the day earlier.
A state health official has said that the record-high number of active cases is likely to signal that hospitalizations will increase in coming days. The Arkansas Health Department’s count of active cases was at 27,492 on Sunday, a decline by 330 from a record high of 27,822 on Saturday.
Arkansas reported 3,330 new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, though Gov. Asa Hutchinson said that more than 2,000 of those cases were from late reporting months ago.
“Regardless, they reflect how this virus impacts all of us,” Hutchinson wrote on Twitter.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University say there were 1,253.5 new cases per 100,000 people in Arkansas over the past two weeks, which ranks sixth in the country for new cases per capita. One in every 148 people in Arkansas tested positive in the past week.
The state’s hospitalizations on Sunday were at 1,340. The state reported 33 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 4,043.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms that clear up within weeks. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the virus can cause severe illness and be fatal.
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