New Arkansas COVID-19 cases top 800 for 2nd straight day

Little Rock, Arkansas – As of Wednesday, Arkansas has gained 887 COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours – the second day in a row of 800 -plus new cases for the state.

Total active cases in the state are now at 5,561 by the in the latest Arkansas Department of Health numbers. This marks a slow but steady up-tick, climbing from 1,506 total active cases on May 1 to 4,169 on June 1 to Wednesday’s count of 5,561 – a jump of 4,055 active cases since May 1 and an addition 1,392 new active cases just in June. All of this is well below the January 21 peak of 100,797 cases in the state.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state has registered a total of 847,811 cases, with 830,509 recoveries. The June 8 figure of 5,561 is the highest active number since February 26 when the state had 6,067 active cases.

The latest figures also show that an additional three deaths, bringing the pandemic total to 11,511.

The number of patients hospitalized with the virus continued to climb Wednesday, increasing by 11 to a current tally of 146. That number is up by 50 patients since just this past Sunday.

Currently, 19 COVID-19 patients are in intensive care units, with five on ventilators. This is an increase in four ICU patients and one patient on a ventilator from the prior day.

Pulaski County has the highest active case numbers, currently at 1,175 cases. Surrounding counties have numbers dropping off quickly, with Faulkner County’s 309 active cases being the highest number, followed by White, Saline, Lonoke and Jefferson counties with 185, 172, 132 and 101 cases respectively. Away from the center of the state, Benton and Washington counties the highest active case numbers at 456 and 447 cases respectively.

The other comparative high number is Craighead County at 285, with adjoining Greene at 117 cases.

Something of an island, Crittenden County has 131 active cases. Other counties throughout the state are well below 100 cases.

Vaccine numbers are also climbing. June 8 marked 304 new fully vaccinated after 1,777 new vaccine doses. To date 4,082,944 dose of vaccine have been given in Arkansas with 1,617,030 Arkansans fully vaccinated and 286,038 partially vaccinated.