Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
STATE adds 314 covid cases; deaths up 18.
Governor heralds the daily shot total
Covid-19 cases increased by 314 on Saturday, a sharp decrease from the 459 new cases Friday, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.
“We did over 20,000 vaccinations yesterday,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted Saturday.
“This highlights how far we’ve come in just one month.”
The Health Department started administering the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine Monday after receiving about 24,000 doses the previous week.
On Saturday, 15,855 of all three approved vaccines were administered for a total of 759,646. On Friday, 18,155 shots were given.
Arkansas has seen a total of 326,813 covid cases since March 2020, according to Health Department data. As of Saturday, 3,190 cases are active, compared with 4,160 a week earlier.
The state reported 18 new deaths Saturday, bringing the total to 5,455 in almost a year.
Benton County saw the most new cases Saturday with 51, and Washington County followed with 33.
The number of Arkansans hospitalized with covid-19 continues to decrease, with 248 patients Saturday compared with 259 Friday and 278 Thursday.
Of those 248 patients, 55 were on ventilators Saturday, nine fewer than Friday.
On Feb. 26, Hutchinson lifted almost all the Health Department’s directives related to covid-19. The requirement to wear masks in public places, however, will remain in effect until at least the end of March. Hutchinson said lifting the mask mandate will depend on the state reaching certain targets.