No new virus deaths seen

Arkansas saw no new covid-19 deaths for the second day in a row, according to data released Saturday by the state Department of Health.

“Our other numbers are encouraging: The number of new cases is below 200 [and] 14,700 more people have been fully vaccinated, which puts Arkansas a little closer to community protection,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted Saturday.

The state reported 171 new covid-19 cases Saturday, a slight decrease from 178 Friday and 217 a week earlier. However, the number of hospitalized covid-19 patients increased to 163, the highest in a week. On Friday, there were 160, including 19 new hospitalizations.

Twenty of the 163 hospitalized patients were on ventilators Saturday, down from 23 on Friday, according to Health Department data.

Benton and Pulaski counties saw the most new cases with 28 and 26, respectively. All other counties reported fewer than 15 cases each.

The state’s death toll remained at 5,661 with no new deaths reported. Arkansas has had a total of 332,053 covid-19 cases since March 2020, and 1,761 cases were active Saturday, an increase of 14 from a week earlier.

Meanwhile, the state reported Saturday that 27,545 more vaccine doses had been administered, a day after Arkansas reached the milestone of at least 30% of residents over age 16 receiving at least one shot.

The Department of Health said Friday that a covid-19 case caused by the more-transmissible variant from Brazil was identified in Arkansas last week for the first time.