COVID-19 cases hit 67 in Union County
The number of COVID-19 cases in Union County grew by five from Tuesday to Wednesday for a total of 67 confirmed cases locally, with all five having been reported after noon Wednesday.
Recoveries in Union County sit at 33, up one from Tuesday; 34 cases are currently active. A total of 368 tests have been performed in Union County, with 301 returning negative for a positivity rate of 18.2%. No deaths have been reported here.
In Arkansas as a whole, confirmed cases reached 3,568 Wednesday, with two additional deaths for a total of 85; one person who died was an inmate from the Cummins Unit prison and the other was a nursing home resident, per Arkansas Department of Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith. Of the state’s cases, 1,374 are currently active since 2,109 people have recovered.
Smith announced yesterday that dental procedures will be allowed to resume sooner than the originally planned date of March 18; instead, they will restart on Monday, May 11, because the state’s Dental Association told health officials dentists had an adequate supply of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Restaurants will be allowed to resume dine-in service on Monday as well. Gyms were allowed to re-open Monday, May 4, and barbershops, hair salons, tattoo parlors and massage spas reopened today. Travel restrictions for out of state visitors have also been rolled back.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson also announced yesterday that the United States Centers for Disease Control will provide Arkansas with 90,000 test swabs and kits this month. He said the state plans to perform 60,000 tests this month, which will about double the number of tests that have been performed in the state since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed here.
Over 900 people, including 54 staff and 876 inmates, at the Cummins Unit have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Smith announced that an additional 100 inmates will be tested and said testing will continue at the prison until there is no one who shows symptoms, noting that even those who have previously tested negative will be re-tested should they show symptoms.
Over 300 inmates at the Federal Correctional Institute in Forrest City had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday. Nationally, cases reached 1.2 million Wednesday, with 189,910 people having recovered and 73,039 having died; 960,519 cases remain active.