The state’s update last night pushed the coronavirus cases over 3,000 and deaths moved up to 50.
There’s no accounting yet for how much, if any, the rising tide of the Cummins virus epidemic contributed to the number. An increase in testing also could explain the steady growth in cases.
A news briefing is expected this afternoon that might shed more light.
Meanwhile today, elective surgeries may resume under strict guidelines that include testing of patients for the virus within 48 hours of the procedure. That’s a process that is obtainable in some places and not others and speedier in some places than others.
It’s an open question whether, for example, abortion procedures WILL resume today at the state’s last surgical abortion provider, Little Rock Family Planning Services. It and the state are to file arguments in federal court today and Tuesday on the state’s effort to shut the clinic down during the pandemic response. It’s an effort the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has so far allowed, even though it has effectively abolished the right to an abortion for women nearing the time limit for obtaining an abortion.
Pharmaceutical abortions — a two-pill regimen that prompts a miscarriage in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy — remain available at Planned Parenthood and Little Rock Family Planning.