Arkansas sees record single-day jump in community virus cases

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks to reporters at the state Capitol in Little Rock on Thursday in this still of video provided by the governor's office.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks to reporters at the state Capitol in Little Rock on Thursday in this still of video provided by the governor's office.

Arkansas saw an increase of 1,008 covid-19 cases among its nonincarcerated population Thursday, state officials said, marking a new daily record. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the jump was due in part to delayed data entry on some cases from Wednesday.

The state also recorded five more cases at correctional facilities, bringing the total of new cases reported Thursday to 1,013.

Six more Arkansans died of the virus, bringing the toll to 386, the governor said. An additional six people were hospitalized, bringing the total to 480.

Counties with the highest number of new cases Thursday included Pulaski with 113, Washington with 76, Benton with 73, Sebastian with 65, Crittenden with 43 and Craighead with 41. Hutchinson usually details all the counties with more than 20 cases, but said Thursday there were numerous counties in the 25-30 range spread across the state.

Acting Department of Health Secretary Jose Romero said there were 7,009 active cases of covid-19 in the state, including 146 in nursing homes, 5,994 in the general population and 869 in correctional facilities.

Of those in jails and prisons, Hutchinson said 577 are in the Ouachita River Unit, 62 are in the Cummins Unit, 20 are in the Tucker Unit and 14 are in the East Arkansas Regional Unit.

Every inmate in the Ouachita River Unit has been tested, Hutchinson said, and inmates are also screened several times a day for fever and symptoms.

He said such a large outbreak at the prison, which currently houses 1,739 inmates and has a 1,900-inmate capacity, is concerning because many who live there are elderly and/or have underlying health issues.

There was a previous outbreak of coronavirus there, and the facility saw a resurgence earlier this month. Then-Department of Health Secretary Nate Smith said this was likely because even though all inmates were tested in the first outbreak, some may have been too recently infected to test positive and continued spreading the virus.

There are no plans to allow visitation to resume at Department of Corrections facilities in the near future, Hutchinson said, adding that the coming and going of staff already creates a risk of introducing the virus.

Visitation has been allowed to resume at nursing homes, provided those facilities meet criteria for no recent cases and implement strict visitation protocols.

This story was originally published at 2:36 p.m.

EARLIER:

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state health officials will provide an update on Arkansas' covid-19 response at 1:30 p.m.

The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Arkansas remained at 35,246 Thursday morning, according to a state website. The death toll remained at 380.

Check back to watch the live video.

[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzXuUXmtGcY]

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