LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas’ coronavirus hospitalizations continued dropping on Friday, even as the state reported 27 new deaths from the virus.
The Department of Health said the number of Arkansas patients hospitalized with COVID-19 dropped by 19 to 259.
The state’s COVID-19 deaths now total 5,437, while 459 new cases increased the state’s pandemic total to 326,040. Of those cases, 3,158 are active ones that don’t include people who have recovered or died from the virus.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the state is on schedule to meet President Joe Biden’s goal to make all adults eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by May 1, assuming the supply is available. Hutchinson on Monday expanded the state’s eligibility to the rest of those in its 1B category, opening up the shots to 180,000 more people.
“We will finish 1B priorities in March and move to 1C in April,” Hutchinson said in a statement, adding that he would provide more specifics next week. “If the supply is provided, then we can open up vaccinations in May to all adult Arkansans.”
More than 816,000 of the nearly 1.4 million vaccine doses allocated to Arkansas have been given so far.
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