Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday he would limit his activities after a person who was in a meeting with him last week tested positive for the coronavirus. The announcement came the same day the cumulative number of covid-19 cases in the state passed the 100,000 threshold.
During his weekly coronavirus update Tuesday, Hutchinson called the figure regrettable.
Hutchinson said the person who tested positive had been in a meeting with him on Friday. The governor said he had practiced social distancing during the meeting and had undergone PCR and antigen testing. Both came back negative.
He said he intends to undergo further testing throughout the week.
Over the past 24 hours, the state saw 628 new cases of covid-19 confirmed via polymerase chain reaction tests, or PCR, tests and 216 probable cases via antigen testing, for a total of 840, according to the state Department of Health.
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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 99,597 Tuesday morning, according to a state website. The death toll remained at 1,714.
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