PATIENTS SCARCE at Arkansas clinics.

LR doctor says virus risk, push for screening to blame

The odor of Lysol and the image of two nurses in masks, gowns and gloves are noticeable the moment the entrance door swings open at the Little Rock Family Practice Clinic.

Seconds later, visitors notice all of the empty chairs in the lobby.

It’s a common scene at walk-in clinics in and around Little Rock.

People were following instructions and staying home Wednesday after the Arkansas Department of Health reported 33 confirmed cases of covid-19 across the state and another 50 under investigation for the virus.

Clinics weren’t mobbed with masked patients as one might have expected.

“I’ve seen about 20 patients each day,” said Dr. Lee Nayles, who runs a walk-in clinic on Main Street in Little Rock, describing what business has been like since covid-19 started having a presence in Central Arkansas.

Before that, he said, he typically saw at least 45 patients per day.

Nayles said there are two reasons for the reduced number of patients. For starters, people don’t want to go someplace and risk getting sick. Additionally, people who are showing symptoms are being urged to go to the drive-thru screenings provided by the UAMS Medical Center, or use the online or hotline screenings.

“People are too scared to come in,” Nayles said. “We also have no means of testing [for covid-19], so we’re sending them to the hospital.”

Other clinics, like Little Rock Family Practice Clinic on North Rodney Parham or the UAMS neighborhood clinic at Capitol Mall, had nurses standing at or near the lobby ready to greet anyone who entered.

Signs were posted on the doors instructing anyone who had a fever or who had traveled outside the United States during the previous two weeks to call the clinic rather than enter it. Those who entered had their tem

peratures taken to ensure they had no fever.

Marcell Robinson, 41, was in the lobby at the Nayles clinic waiting for a friend who was there for a checkup. Robinson was the only one in the lobby.

He was nervous on the way there. He was far less so while he waited for his friend. He wasn’t surrounded by symptomatic people like he had expected to be.

“It’s just unbelievable,” he said. “There’s hardly anyone in here. I thought this place would be packed, man. I’m really relieved.”

People are using the screening centers at UAMS, and they’re also making use of covid-19 hotlines. That has been the case statewide.

Washington Regional Medical Center’s covid-19 screening hotline, based in Fayetteville, began operating Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, the hotline had received roughly 1,200 calls, according to the hospital.