ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas continues to fall deeper into the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday (July 13), the Arkansas Department of Health reported another day of over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases and another spike in hospitalizations.
July 13, 2021, COVID-19 Case Report (all data confirmed through ADH):
- Total Cases: 358,949 (+1,476)
- Total Active Cases: 8,134 (+879)
- Total Deaths: 5,970 (+15)
- Hospitalized: 606 (+41) 98 on ventilators (+4)
- Eligible Arkansans Fully Vaccinated: 1,017,180 (+ 2,236)
According to the CDC, only 35% of Arkansas' total population is fully vaccinated against the virus. Data from Johns Hopkins University lists Arkansas as the top state in the country for new cases per capita over the past two weeks.
The spark in new cases has been caused by the COVID-19 delta variant and low vaccination rates.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson did not host his weekly press conference to talk about cases in Arkansas due to him traveling the state to talk with communities about vaccine hesitancy.
He did take to Twitter to say, "Today’s report of 41 new hospitalizations should be of concern to unvaccinated Arkansans. 98.3% of those hospitalized since January were not vaccinated. I’ll be in Forrest City this evening for another Community COVID Conversation."
On Tuesday, a coalition of Oklahoma medical professionals said their state is starting to see an increase in new cases from patients that have entered Arkansas and Missouri. Chicago has also reinstated COVID-19 travel rules in both states.