#Arkansas virus hospitalizations go up by 106 over weekend

The number of people hospitalized due to the coronavirus jumped by 106 over the weekend in Arkansas, which is leading the nation in new virus cases were capita.

The Department of Health said Monday that the state’s virus hospitalizations increased to 787. Of those, 291 patients are in intensive care and 124 patients are on ventilators.

The state’s virus cases increased over the past three days by 2,552 to 365,132 total since the pandemic began. The state reported 15 new deaths. The department recently stopped reporting daily COVID-19 numbers on weekends, releasing the figures on Monday instead.

Arkansas’ cases have surged in recent weeks because of the delta variant of the virus and a low number people getting vaccinated. Only 35% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson this month embarked on a statewide tour, holding town halls aimed at encouraging people to get vaccinated.

Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by 114%, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers.

About 21% of the state’s 8,817 hospital beds and 5% of its 1,066 intensive care unit beds are currently available, the department said.

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