State Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe said Wednesday that he tested positive for the coronavirus, and Rep. Marcus Richmond, R-Gravelly, became the 10th state lawmaker in the past week and a half to disclose being infected.
Bledsoe is the latest high-ranking official in Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson's administration to test positive. Department of Corrections Secretary Solomon Graves and Budget Director Jake Bleed acknowledged Oct. 20 that they had the virus.
Greg Bledsoe's parents are Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, and state Department of Health chief physician specialist James Bledsoe, who have both tested positive for covid-19. Greg Bledsoe said Monday that his wife and two of his three children also tested positive.
Greg Bledsoe said in an afternoon text message to this newspaper that he woke up Wednesday morning with very mild symptoms.
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"Out of an abundance of caution, I went in and received my 4th COVID PCR test of the week. This one was positive," he said. The PCR tests are the more reliable polymerase chain reaction tests.
"Since I'm already isolating, there has been no further transmission," Bledsoe wrote in his text message. "I'm continuing to work from home via Zoom [videoconferencing software], email, and phone."
He said he informed the governor and Health Secretary Jose Romero on Wednesday morning about his test result.
"Family is improving and I otherwise feel fine," Bledsoe said.
He said he still believes that the cases in his immediate family are separate from those of his parents.
"We had no contact with my parents of any significance prior to my immediate family testing positive," Bledsoe said. "It's very strange."
Of the child who wasn't diagnosed with the virus, he replied: "She was tested twice and [was] negative both times, but began having mild symptoms over the weekend. We are considering her positive."
In an interview, Richmond said he learned Wednesday morning that a test he took Monday was positive.
"I'm not bad," he said. "I think I'm already on the rebound."
Richmond said he suspects he was infected as a result of attending legislative budget hearings before they were temporarily suspended last week.
But he said he also could have been infected elsewhere.
Other representatives recently testing positive are Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage; Gayla McKenzie, R-Gravette; Michelle Gray, R-Melbourne; Stu Smith, R-Batesville; Joe Cloud, R-Russellville; and Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren.
Besides Cecile Bledsoe, the other senators who have tested positive recently are Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, and Terry Rice, R-Waldron.
Wardlaw and Bledsoe are co-chairmen of the Legislative Council, which, along with the Joint Budget Committee, resumed budget hearings for state agencies Tuesday.
Bleed participated in the hearings on Zoom on Oct. 20 and during the past two days.
Graves "is doing very well," department spokeswoman Cindy Murphy reported. "He never had symptoms."
Cloud said Wednesday that he spent five days at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Russellville after developing pneumonia. He was released from the hospital Tuesday.
He said he attended budget hearings Oct. 13-15, became sick Oct. 17, and learned Oct. 20 that he had tested positive.
Cloud, who is a retired doctor, said there is no way to be "100% sure" how he was infected.
He said he will be quarantined until Nov. 7.
"I am very grateful for the medical care," Cloud said, adding that he is "doing a lot better."
So far, most of the infected lawmakers hail from rural areas.
Infected lawmakers generally have been reluctant to single out the budget hearings as the place where they were infected, saying they don't know how it happened.
Asked whether their infections are connected, House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, replied in an interview, "Who knows?
"I don't think there is any way you can know because we were only here briefly last week and, even going back to the week before, I just don't think that anybody could ever say with any certainty that it is one thing or the other.
"I think that we have seen in other circumstances ... that if you have a positive [test] or two, then people become more aware of the risk and maybe they are more inclined, if they have some symptoms, to go get tested, so that could be part of it, too," Shepherd said.
"When you have colleagues that have tested positive and you've been involved in the same meetings, it probably [brings] you a heightened awareness. But I don't know that anybody could ever say, does it relate to being here or something else," he said.
The hearings started Oct. 13 and were scheduled to end Nov. 12.
They also will be held the following week, said Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, a co-chairman of the Joint Budget Committee.
On Nov. 10, Hutchinson is to release his proposed budget for fiscal 2022, which starts July 1, 2021. The regular legislative session starts Jan. 11.
During the past two days, a few dozen lawmakers have attended the hearings. That's fewer than attended the hearings prior to the outbreak.
Lawmakers are now spread out in Room A in the Multi-Agency Complex west of the state Capitol, leaving at least one empty seat between them. All, except for a handful of lawmakers, have been wearing masks.
The rule for the hearings requires lawmakers to cover their noses and mouths with a mask except when speaking into a microphone or drinking or when at least 6 feet from others.
Sen. Will Bond, D-Little Rock, whose service ends in January, said, "I think politicians just generally have a hard time staying away from each other, and the job calls for collaboration."
But, he added, "I think the mask-wearing has picked up significantly in the last seven to 10 days.
"I think the Legislature as they go into January will continue to get better ... about their distancing and wearing the masks at times and washing hands and doing the best they can to keep everybody safe, but I suspect we'll continue to have cases just like you do in everything, whether it's Major League Baseball or football or other businesses," said Bond.
Shepherd said legislative leaders have been in ongoing discussions about the logistics of the session.
"All this stuff and what's occurred is certainly relevant to that discussion," he said. "But I wouldn't say that there is anything that has happened this week or last week that's making us to make changes. At least, I realize that when we go into session, we are going to have to be flexible. We can't sit here today and know what it's going to be like in January and, just because there is a situation in January, that doesn't mean that is the way it is going to be in March, so we are going to have a number of different contingencies and be willing to adapt to whatever the circumstances are at that time."
Asked what procedures the Department of Health is using for contact tracing for state lawmakers, a department spokesman, Gavin Lesnick, said the department uses the same process for all positive cases.
"The only significant difference is that ADH has learned about positive results for some lawmakers through the media," he said in a written statement. "ADH has begun investigation on these cases prior to positive results being reported by the health care provider or laboratory."
Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, in July became the first on the Senate side to announce a positive test. Reps. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff; Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna; and Les Warren, R-Hot Springs, announced they had tested positive before the fiscal legislative session started April 8. All have recovered.
