LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas reported its biggest one-day jump in COVID-19 cases in five months on Tuesday as the state remained atop the country in new cases per capita.
The Department of Health said the state’s cases rose by 1,476 to 358,949 since the pandemic began. It was the biggest one-day jump reported by the state since Feb. 5, when it added 1,824 cases.
Arkansas’ cases have continued to surge, fueled by the delta variant and the state’s low vaccination rates. The state ranks number one in the country for new cases per capita, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers.
Only 35% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state’s COVID-19 hospitalizations rose by 41 to 606. Twenty-two percent of the state’s hospital beds and about 6% of its intensive care unit beds are currently available, according to the Department of Health. There are 240 COVID-19 patients in the state’s ICUs. Ninety-eight COVID-19 patients are on ventilators.
The state’s COVID-19 deaths rose by 15 to 5,970.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is touring the state holding town halls aimed at encouraging vaccinations, tweeted that 98.3% of those hospitalized in the state since January were unvaccinated.
