July 7, 2020 2:10 p.m. — In today's COVID-19 briefing, Gov. Asa Hutchinson reported the state has 24,512 positive cases, an increase of 259 from yesterday. Of those, 23 are in correctional facilities. Hospitalizations increased 32 for a total of 369. Arkansas has 301 deaths related to the coronavirus, an increase of 901. In the last 24 hours, 3,366 tests have been conducted.
Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith said of the state has 5,486 active cases. Of those, 117 are in nursing homes, 273 are in correctional facilities and 5,096 are in the community. The counties with the most new cases are Pulaski County with 57, Benton County with 26 and Washington County with 14. Dr. Smith said 891 more people have recovered bringing the state's total to 18,725 Arkansans recovered.
Commerce Secretary Mike Preston said a little more than 43,000 applicants have been approved for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. About $330 million has been dispersed in the state. Sec. Preston said unemployment insurance is leveling off after peaking around May 9 at 122,522 continued claims. He said there were 97,966 continued claims as of this morning. Sec. Preston said his office is investigating a fraud scheme that's been seen nationwide in which bad actors use someone else's personal information to file an unemployment claim. Fraud can be reported at www.dws.arkansas.gov.
Sec. Preston said they are analyzing 14,000 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims and another 6,000 unemployment insurance claims that have been flagged. He said that does not mean these accounts involve fraud; it could be something simple like an error in a bank account information. Sec. Preston said officials are taking appropriate action where they do find fraud.
You can watch the entire daily briefing here.