Two more state lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, said Wednesday that she learned this morning that she tested positive for the coronavirus.
Rep. Joe Cloud, R-Russellville, also has tested positive for the coronavirus, said House Chief of Staff Roy Ragland.
They are the fourth and fifth lawmakers in the past two days to announce that they have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The three others are Sen. Terry Rice, R-Waldron and Reps. Michelle Gray, R-Melbourne said Stu Smith, R-Batesville. Their positive tests on Tuesday led legislative leaders to scrap budget hearings of state agencies for the rest of this week.
Irvin said she started feeling sick on Saturday, and then tested negative for the coronavirus through a rapid antigen test on Sunday.
She said she had the more reliable PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test done on Sunday and learned about her positive test result Wednesday morning.
“”The rapid tests aren’t always 100 percent correct,” said Irvin, who chairs the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee.
She said she had no idea how she got the coronavirus.
“I feel like crud,” Irvin said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, said “we are going to do everything we can to hold meetings next week,” but also "take steps to “control this from getting out of hand.”
During their budget hearings for state agencies, lawmakers are surrounded by plexiglas. They voted to require lawmakers to wear masks except under certain conditions to participate in those hearings.