Arkansas reports 42 new virus deaths
LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas reported 42 new Covid-19 deaths Monday and its biggest one-day spike in coronavirus hospitalizations since the pandemic began.
The Department of Health reported 81 new Covid-19 hospitalizations, bringing the state's total to 1,220. The department said 451 of those patients are under intensive care and 250 are on ventilators.
The state's coronavirus hospitalizations are nearing the high of 1,371 set in January. Gov. Asa Hutchinson pleaded with residents to get vaccinated, noting that nearly all of the hospitalizations the state has seen are among the unvaccinated. Only about 36% of the state's population is fully vaccinated.
"Do your part to help," Hutchinson tweeted. "Hospitals are full & the only remedy is for more Arkansans to be vaccinated."
The number of people who have died from Covid-19 in the state now totals 6,199. The state's virus cases rose on Monday rose by 844.
The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, in its report released Sunday, shows that of the state’s current Covid cases, the majority affect those between the ages of 18 and 24, where 1,772 cases have been diagnosed.
The ACHI report also shows 1,652 cases among those ages 25 to 34, and 1,587 cases among the 35 to 44 age group. The 45 to 54 age group accounts for 1,503 of the cases, with 1,221 cases in the 55 to 64 age group. Those 65 and over account for 1,052 cases, according to the ACHI report.
Arkansas' cases and hospitalizations have climbed in recent weeks because of the delta variant of the virus and the state's low vaccination rate. Arkansas ranks third in the country for new cases per capita, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers.