Continuing a renewed surge in identified coronavirus infections for a third day, Arkansas' case count rose Thursday by 1,226, the largest one-day increase in more than two months.
Already at its highest level in more than a month, the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 rose for the seventh day in a row.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by six, to 8,693. The rise in cases on Thursday was the largest in a single day since Sept. 24.
It was the third day of sharp increases, with jumps of 1,044 cases on Tuesday and 930 on Wednesday, following a slowdown around Thanksgiving.
The average daily increase in the state's case count over a rolling seven-day period rose to 656, topping the level it reached before the dip in new cases last week.
The average as of Thursday was at its highest level since the week ending Oct. 13, when the state's new cases were still on their way down from a summer surge.
The number hospitalized, at its highest level since Oct. 21, rose by nine, to 432. Rising for the third day in a row, the number of the state's virus patients who were on ventilators grew by four, to 78, its highest level since Nov. 4. After dipping a day earlier, the number of covid patients who were in intensive care rose by five, to 176, its highest level since Oct. 26.
The number of intensive care unit beds in the state's hospitals that were unoccupied fell by 24, to 68, with covid-19 patients continuing to make up almost 17% of all the people in intensive care.
With new cases outpacing recoveries and deaths, the number of cases in the state that were considered active rose by 694, to 6,585, the largest number since Oct. 16.
Meanwhile, at 11,207, the increase in the Health Department's tally of vaccine doses that had been administered was larger by almost 1,900 than the one the previous Thursday.
Booster shots made up just over half the most recent increase.
The count of first doses rose by 3,291, which was up slightly from the increase in first doses a week earlier.
After dipping on Wednesday, the average number of total doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period rose to 7,170, which remained well below the average of almost 10,000 a day a week earlier.
The average for first doses rose to 2,296. That was still down from almost 3,500 a day a week earlier.