GRAVETTE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The race for additional COVID-19 testing continues in states across the country. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Arkansas has the capacity to test more than it already is.
Wednesday’s daily briefing revealed the state can test 60-90 people per 1,000 at this point. The state has only tested nine per 1,000 so far.
Scott Taylor is the assistant administrator for Ozarks Community Hospital in Gravette. He points to limited testing supplies as the reason more weren’t originally being done, and state guidelines followed suit.
Now the situation’s flipped.
“Since we’ve increased our capacity for testing, we haven’t necessarily seen a large bump in the tests we’ve sent out,” Taylor said. “The big thing is we have the ability to if the need arises.”
Taylor said basically everyone who’s come through OCH and requested testing has gotten it. That speaks to the fact that providers can now meet the demand, he said, something that was extremely difficult about a month ago.
