Arkansas health officials report more than 1,200 new cases of COVID-19 and 21 more deaths linked to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Authorities reported 1,030 Arkansas residents were hospitalized with COVID-19 Sunday, 20 more than on Saturday. The Arkansas Department of Health says the state added 1,221 confirmed and probable cases Sunday.
"I think about the loss to so many families and the stress on our health care workers," Gov. Asa Huthinson said on Twitter. "We have a lot of work to do between now and Christmas."
The department says Arkansas has had a total of 156,247 COVID-19 cases and 2,470 fatalities.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say more than 13% of coronavirus tests in Arkansas came back positive over the last seven days.