Arkansas Secretary of Health Dr. Nate Smith announced Sunday that the state’s first healthcare worker has passed away from COVID-19.
The health care worker passed Saturday at UAMS, and worked at Jefferson Regional Hospital with the initial group of cases reported there according to Smith.
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.
Additionally, Governor 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, and three inmates had been hospitalized.
Hutchinson also said 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.
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.
