Arkansas logged 383 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, the lowest single-day total since July 7, as the death toll climbed by 11 to 566.
But the state also administered just 4,140 new tests for covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, which is the lowest daily total since early July, according to figures Gov. Asa Hutchinson provided Tuesday at his near-daily press conference on the pandemic.
Hutchinson, who said it is too early to be "cocky" about the lower case numbers, said he is "very encouraged" by the past few days.
"Even if you made an adjustment because of the lower level of testing, it would still be a significant decrease," he said.
Hutchinson and Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key also announced Tuesday that school district-level covid-19 data would be made available for the first time this week through a partnership with the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.
Hundreds of thousands of K-12 students and tens of thousands of teachers and staff are scheduled to start returning to Arkansas classrooms in less than two weeks.
ACHI through a partnership with the Arkansas Department of Health has released city-level covid-19 since last month.
The school district-level data will be similar and will consist of cumulative cases, active cases and the percentage of how many covid-19 tests showed infections.
The data will cover the entire population that resides in a school district, rather than only students, teachers or staff who show up to the district's facilities, Key said, calling it "a reflection of the broader community" within a school district's boundaries.
The news came on a day in which Arkansas Health Secretary Jose Romero said a recent decline in new cases is "most likely attributable to the [governor's] mask mandate."
The 4,140 new tests administered marked the second-straight day of decline and was the lowest single-day total since early July, according to slides Hutchinson presented.
Coronavirus tests are provided by the Arkansas Department of Health, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and commercial laboratories. Much of the fluctuation in daily testing volume has been attributable to the commercial labs.
Hutchinson said Tuesday he spoke Monday with the White House Coronavirus Task Force about testing capacity and long turn-around times for individual results.
"They recited their communications with the different … national laboratories, and that they have committed to increase their testing capacity" and turn-around times, Hutchinson said. "I believe you'll start seeing that in Arkansas."
Cumulative cases now stand at 50,411 and the Health Department considers 6,847 of those infections to be "active."
The highest number of new infections were tallied in Pulaski County, at 63. Two other counties had at least 20 additional covid-19 cases: Sebastian County with 31 and Carroll County with 20.
The number of people currently hospitalized with covid-19 decreased by one from Monday to 507. The number of people using a ventilator for breathing assistance also declined by one, to 116.
EARLIER:
Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state health officials will provide an update on Arkansas' covid-19 response at 1:30 p.m.
The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Arkansas remained at 50,028 Tuesday morning, according to a state website. The death toll remained at 555.
Check back to watch the live video.
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