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Arkansas health officials tell Senate panel there are no known COVID‑19 cases in state, outline testing and quarantine plans
Summary
Arkansas Department of Health told the Senate Public Health committee there were no known COVID‑19 cases in the state, that ADH was monitoring roughly 100 travelers, had laboratory capacity for about 1,800–2,000 assay runs and was coordinating with commercial labs; officials urged screening at long‑term care facilities and explained quarantine and reporting procedures.
Dr. Nate Smith, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee that "as of today, we have no known cases of COVID 19 or the novel coronavirus in Arkansas." He said the department was "aggressively monitoring approximately a hundred travelers" and was testing in the state public health laboratory.
Smith said ADH had immediate supplies sufficient to perform roughly 1,800 to 2,000 test assays (noting multiple specimens per patient), and that commercial laboratories, including LabCorp and Quest, had begun accepting specimens. "We've requested that they send any positive results to us for confirmation and that they send any results to us, so that…
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