LITTLE ROCK -- Former U.S. Sen. David Pryor has been hospitalized in Little Rock after testing positive for the coronavirus, his family said Monday.
The Camden native and former governor was admitted to University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences around lunchtime Saturday after receiving positive test results the previous evening.
His wife, Barbara, who also tested positive, is asymptomatic.
"Both are in the required isolation and they want to encourage everyone to wear masks, wash hands and follow the other [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines, so we can stop the spread of this deadly virus," the family statement said.
Medical officials decided to admit Pryor due to his age "and the fact that he is a stroke and heart attack survivor," the statement noted.
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"The entire Pryor family is very grateful for the attention and care given by UAMS. Our mother is home and remains asymptomatic while our father is responding well in the hospital. We are hopeful that both will have a full recovery and we look forward to them testing negative soon," the statement said.
"We respectfully ask that you honor our family's request for much needed privacy and refrain from any calls at this time," the Pryors stated. "We will issue another statement in the upcoming days in the event that either's status changes, but in the interim, we humbly ask for your prayers."
At his Monday covid-19 briefing, Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters he had spoken about the Pryors' illness with their son, former U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor.
"I'm delighted that Barbara is back home but our prayers go with the Pryor family. It just illustrates that no one is immune from the virus. We can all be careful but you can't be too careful. ... I think about the Pryor family, and its a well-known family in Arkansas and whenever it touches them it touches us all," Hutchinson said.
Michael John Gray, Democratic Party of Arkansas chairman, said Monday's announcement "really makes you rethink how serious you need to be taking [covid-19]."
"We sure hope for a speedy recovery. David Pryor is a personal hero and I know he and Barbara will be in my prayers until we get through this," Gray said.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas has called David Pryor, who turns 86 next month, "arguably the most popular Arkansas politician of the modern era."
He served in the state Legislature in his mid-20s; was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives at age 32, and claimed the governor's mansion months after turning 40. Four years later, he won a U.S. Senate seat, going on to serve three terms there.
Since his mid-50s, he has overcome a number of health problems.
In April 1991, he suffered a heart attack at his Washington residence.
The following year, he underwent triple-bypass surgery in Little Rock.
In September 1993, Pryor was hospitalized after suffering from a respiratory infection.
He underwent bypass surgery in October 2006 after suffering a heart attack at his Little Rock home.
On Oct. 10, 2016, he suffered a stroke in Fayetteville and was rushed to Washington Regional Medical Center. Eight days after falling ill, doctors gave him a pacemaker as well.
David and Barbara Pryor are two of the 28,939 who had tested positive for the coronavirus in Arkansas as of Monday. Of those, 6,510 are active; 22,106 have already recovered and 323 have died, according to the state Department of Health.
UAMS Chancellor Cam Chancellor warned last week the caseload of covid-19 is rising sharply, with covid-19-related deaths likely to soar.
"We're talking about potentially 20,000 cumulative deaths here in the state of Arkansas," he told PBS's Arkansas Week. "If we fully complied with masking policies, we could reduce that by almost 75%,"he said.
Thus far, Arkansas' health care system has risen to the challenge, UAMS chief executive officer Dr. Stephen Mette said.
"Right now, we're managing as a state pretty well. There's pretty good distribution of patients. We have raised our trauma system to help distribute patients if any one area is overloaded," he said.
But if sufficient steps aren't taken to bend the curve in the coming months, "that really could overwhelm our hospital system in the state," he said.
Information for this article was contributed by John Moritz, Cynthia Howell and Bill Bowden of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.