Number of deceased climbs to 73 in state
Nursing home, inmate deaths tied to virus
Deaths from covid-19 in Arkansas rose to 73, including two inmates at the Cummins Unit of the Arkansas Department of Corrections in Grady, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said during a news conference Saturday.
According to Health Department Secretary Nate Smith, an additional six deaths that occurred in nursing homes but had not previously been classified were added to the total.
Both inmates were in their 60s and had underlying medical conditions, Smith said. Both had been hospitalized, and at least one was on a respirator.
Hutchinson said the prison population in the Department of Corrections has been lowered by 380 inmates since the public health emergency began. All of the released inmates were nonviolent, nonsex offenders, and all were
within six months of their release dates, he said.
“The prison population has decreased, which has been intentional on our part so that we can have space in the event we have an outbreak in another institution, so that we have room for isolation and making sure we can protect the inmates who might test positive,” he said.
Statewide, Smith said, the number of cases had risen Saturday to 3,372. He said 1,312 of those were active cases. He said hospitalizations were up by five from the previous day, to 100, but patients on ventilators had dropped by three, to 20.
Three of the deaths reported, including the two Cummins inmates, had occurred in the previous 24 hours, Smith said, while the other six were nursing home deaths that had occurred in recent days or weeks but had not been properly entered into the system. That raised the total of nursing home deaths to 28, he said.
Smith said 233 nursing home residents had tested positive for covid-19, up four from Friday, and 145 nursing home staff members had tested positive, up three from Friday.
Smith said the number of people recovered from the coronavirus in the state was up 14 from Friday, to 1,987.
Although cases in the state are continuing to rise, Hutchinson said there are signs that the rate of infection is slowing. He said one sign that the rate of infection is slowing is a steady 12-day
Smith said 233 nursing home residents had tested positive for covid-19, up four from Friday, and 145 nursing home staff members had tested positive, up three from Friday.
decline in the number of positive covid-19 tests. He said the state is testing about 1,500 people daily, and the percentage of those who test positive has declined from a high of 25% on April 20 to about 3% as of Friday.
“Dr. Smith noted that we’re at such a low rate of positivity now that it’s sort of hard to continue to go down,” Hutchinson said. “But this is easy to measure, and we like the trajectory of the positivity rate that we continue to see.”
The governor said that even as steps are being taken to begin opening the state back up, officials are taking seriously the warnings from prominent public health officials — such as Dr. Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases — that the virus may rebound in the fall or even be a seasonal threat.
“Dr. Fauci said the coronavirus could be with us into the fall, and Dr. Osterholm said it could be an even longer period of time,” Hutchinson said. “But regardless of whether that’s right or wrong, we are preparing for the long term here in the state of Arkansas.”
Hutchinson and Smith expressed confidence Saturday that the state will have developed sufficient testing and contact tracing capacity by this fall so that, should the coronavirus resurge, the state should be able to detect it in time to blunt its impact.
“We’re building that capacity right now,” Hutchinson said during the coronavirus update at the state Capitol. “We do have sufficient capability for contact tracing, but Dr. Smith is continually trying to improve it. To illustrate, when this emergency first started, we had three nurses who did contact tracing, and now it’s … I think 180 was the last number that I heard.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in contact tracing, public health staff members work with a patient to help him recall everyone with whom he had close contact during the time he may have been infectious, and they then warn those contacts about their possible exposure.
Hutchinson said work is being done now to incorporate contact tracing into the state’s economic infrastructure as things begin opening back up. For example, he said, barbershops and hair salons, which can reopen in a limited fashion Wednesday, are to keep appointment information on file to assist public health officials in case tracing becomes necessary.
“Everything is geared toward that capacity of contact tracing, and that infrastructure that we need to make sure that whatever happens in the future, we’ll be able to address it quickly,” he said.
Hutchinson said that in addition to expanding the state’s capacity for contact tracing and covid-19 testing, and beefing up the Department of Health infrastructure, emphasis will continue to be placed on social distancing, wearing masks in public, using hand sanitizer and implementing disinfectant protocols.
“These are the steps we have to take as a state in order to be prepared in the event we do have a long struggle with the coronavirus,” he said.
Hutchinson said the state will continue to issue guidelines and time lines for businesses to reopen as time goes on. Guidelines have already been issued to allow restaurants to open to limited traffic next week, followed by gyms; a resumption of elective surgical procedures; then barbershops, salons and spas. Hutchinson said that on Monday, he will make an announcement concerning churches and some larger public venues.
“We’ve lifted some restrictions and we’ve done a very careful, phased-in approach, so it doesn’t all happen on the same time frame,” he said. “I think this is a very cautious approach that our state is taking.”
As things do begin to open up, Hutchinson said, whatever recovery the state makes will depend on the confidence of people that it is safe to go out in public again. He said many retail businesses that were not required to close did so anyway as consumer demand dried up. As those stores begin reopening, Hutchinson said, consumers should follow public health guidelines and be mindful of social distancing.
“Wear a mask; follow the guidelines of your retail shop to make sure that you do your social distancing,” he said. “This is the new life that we have, and I hope that we get out and I hope that we spend money, but that we make sure we follow these guidelines.”
Smith said that as people get out more, it is important that they remain aware of the need to keep a 6-foot physical distance from others, to wear a mask, to use hand sanitizer frequently, and to be mindful of what they touch.
“We want people to get used to some of the new normal in dealing with covid-19,” he said. “Not to take unnecessary risks but to learn how to go about your business in a way that is safe and does not promote the spread of covid-19.”
Smith said questions have been raised about how long the virus will remain a public health threat.
“The short answer is that no one really knows,” he said. “We’ve never had to deal with a virus like this.”