Arkansas governor says only 8 ICU beds left as state hits record COVID hospitalizations

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson tweeted on Monday that "there are currently only eight ICU beds available in the state" as the region and the rest of the U.S. grapples with a surge of COVID infections fueled in part by the highly contagious Delta variant.

The Arkansas Department of Health reported on Monday that a total of 1,376 people are hospitalized due to the coronavirus, which surpasses a record high of 1,371 hospitalizations recorded on January 11. State data also shows more than 500 people have been admitted to the ICU and nearly 300 people infected with COVID are on ventilators. "Today's report shows some very startling numbers," the governor tweeted. "We saw the largest single-day increase in hospitalizations and have eclipsed our previous high of COVID hospitalizations."