Danny Watson

There were 259 additional cases reported at this afternoon’s COVID-19 update. Of those, 57 were from Pulaski County, 14 were from Washington County and 26 were from Benton County.

Health officials say the number of tests has decreased due to the holiday weekend.

There were 9 additional deaths reported in the last 24 hours. Of those, 5 were under the age of 65.

The number of hospitalizations has increased by 32. This is the largest single day increase in hospitalizations since the health emergency began. There are now 83 people on a ventilator.

Commerce Secretary Mike Preston says the number of weekly unemployment insurance claims is gradually decreasing. In April, the number of weekly claims reached 122,000. This week, the number of weekly claims was 97,966.

Secretary Preston said his agency is seeing attempts of fraudulent claims by individuals using others personal information. Several thousand claims have been flagged while the agency is reviewing. If someone is using your information or you are aware of fraudulent claims, you are asked to report it at dws.arkansas.com and file a police report. You can also email [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> or call 501-682-1058.