COVID-19 hospitalizations set one-day record; deaths surpass 300
by July 7, 2020 4:07 pm 856 views
The Arkansas Department of Health reported Tuesday (July 7) that 32 Arkansans were hospitalized because of COVID-19, the largest one-day increase since the pandemic began. As of Tuesday there were 369 hospitalized in Arkansas.
The state also reported nine new COVID-related deaths, pushing the total to 301 deaths since the pandemic began.
Known COVID-19 cases in Arkansas totaled 24,512 on Tuesday, up from 24,253 on Monday. The number of deaths rose from 292 to 301. The number of COVID patients hospitalized in Arkansas was 369 on Tuesday, up from 337 Monday. Of the known cases since March 11, 18,725 have recovered.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Arkansas Secretary of Health Dr. Nate Smith said the low number of new cases is partially tied to a low number of tests conducted during the holiday break. There were 3,366 tests conducted in the previous 24 hours, below the 5,000 or more tests that have been typical.
Of the 259 new community cases, 37.4% were from Pulaski County (57), Benton County (26), and Washington County (14).
As of Tuesday at 1 p.m., there were 2,953,423 U.S. cases and 130,751 deaths. Globally, there were 11,688,913 cases and 539,993 deaths.
Arkansas Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston also reported that more than 43,000 Arkansans have received benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program totaling around $330 million. The PUA program provides unemployment benefits to the self-employed, freelancers and others not typically qualifying for unemployment benefits. The money comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act approved by Congress to provide aid to individuals, businesses and state and local governments in response to the pandemic.
He also said the number of Arkansans receiving traditional unemployment insurance has declined from around 122,500 in early May to 97,966 in the most recent week.