LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – New data released Monday by the Arkansas Department of Health showed that active cases of COVID-19 in the state took a huge drop, falling by more than 1,000 in a day.

The ADH figures show the active case count went down by 1,008, which brings that down to 8,535. Hospitalizations dropped by 20 from the prior day to 669.

“With a large drop today we have nearly 3,000 fewer active cases than last Monday, a hopeful sign that we are moving back in the right direction, but COVID-19 is still a serious virus and getting vaccinated is the best way to continue this downward trend,” Governor Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet.

Compared to the data from one month ago, active cases are down 64 percent and hospitalizations are down 46 percent.

There were 195 new cases of COVID-19 reported since Sunday, bringing the total since the beginning of the pandemic to 498,257. The state also reported 12 more deaths among patients with COVID-19, pushing the total for the state to 7,752.

Officials reported 192 patients on ventilators, a decrease of 14.

More than 2,436 new COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in Arkansas in the last 24 hours. The number of fully immunized Arkansans has gone up by 955, bringing the total fully immunized in the state to 1,345,668.