Governor Asa Hutchinson visited Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff today to reflect on the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jefferson Regional Medical Center is where the first Arkansas COVID-19 patient was diagnosed on March 11, 2020.
Hutchinson visited with hospital leaders, staff, and the state’s first patient. Brian Thomas, with the JRMC began by saying, “We came into work a year ago today not knowing it would go the way it did. Many worked long hours and extra shifts, and words cannot put into perspective or show enough gratitude to our first responders.”
Since that first case with a patient at Jefferson Regional Medical Center, there have been more than 325,000 cases in the state, and more than 5,300 Arkansans have lost their lives to the virus.
As of March 11, 2021, Governor Asa Hutchinson said around 17% of all Arkansans have been vaccinated. Hospitalizations are down below 300 for the first time in past six- or seven-months.
The Governor added that Arkansans have “learned to adapt, innovate, and to fight through the challenges that we face.”