LITTLE ROCK (AP) Arkansas reported 33 new COVID-19 deaths and more than 2,400 new coronavirus cases Friday as the state saw a slight decrease in hospitalizations.
The Department of Health said the state’s COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began rose to 6,614, while coronavirus cases increased by 2,407 to 431,507 total since the pandemic began.
The number of COVID-19 patients in the state’s hospitals dropped by 13 to 1,397, but only 19 intensive care unit beds were available in the state, the department said. There are 533 COVID-19 patients in ICUs around the state with 343 on ventilators.
Arkansas ranks fourth in the country for new cases per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University research data. The state’s cases and hospitalizations have surged in recent weeks due to the ultra-contagious delta variant and the state’s low vaccination rate.
The state this week reached a new high for hospitalizations and had one of the biggest one-day increases in cases since the pandemic began.
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