The first health care worker to die as a result of the coronavirus in Arkansas was reported Sunday, while the number of confirmed positive cases at the Cummins Unit prison rose by 118 and nearly 2,000 inmates across the state are being reviewed for release, according to state officials.
The health care worker who died had worked at Jefferson Regional Hospital and was associated with the initial cluster of cases reported there, Dr. Nathaniel Smith, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health said at a briefing at the state Capitol in Little Rock.
A nursing home patient has also died from the illness, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths to 40. Both the health care worker and the nursing home patient were under 65 years old, Smith said.
The total number of coronavirus cases reported in the state rose to 1,739 cases, an increase of 42 since Saturday, according to the health secretary. A total of 348 inmates at the Cummins Unit tested positive for the coronavirus, 118 more than reported on Saturday.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said that 974 tests of inmates at the Cummins Unit had been conducted over the course of two days. A total of 634 test results had been received by the Sunday conference, and three inmates had been hospitalized.
The state Parole Board and the Department of Corrections have identified 1,990 inmates who will be screened to determine how many can be released under the current circumstances, Hutchinson also said.
According to the governor, the state is considering the release of inmates so that, should outbreaks occur in other units, sufficient space will be available to isolate those who test positive.
“We have to have some empty spaces for that,” he said.
Check back for further details.
EARLIER:
Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Dr. Nathaniel Smith, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, will provide an update on the state’s covid-19 response at 1:30 p.m. Check back to watch the live video.
[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVYS2NQFljI]