FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Washington County and the City of Fayetteville have been notified of a presumptive positive test for coronavirus (COVID-19) for one of its residents, according to Washington County Judge Joseph Wood and Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan.
Wood and Jordan are urging the public to follow all recommendations of the Arkansas Department of Health.
5NEWS was able to talk with the first confirmed patient, Eva Bogomilov.
Bogomilov is a student in her 20s going to school in New York.
Her parents are both doctors in Northwest Arkansas. Both have gone into a self-quarantine out of precaution.
In a social media post that has been taken down, she said he had flu-like symptoms for one day.
She has been in quarantine since learning about her diagnosis.
Bogomilov did fly into XNA wearing protective gear. She was not showing symptoms of coronavirus when she was traveling home, but she wore the protective equipment anyway.
XNA released the following statement:
Currently, XNA has not been informed and can not confirm that a passenger infected with COVID-19 traveled through the Northwest Arkansas National Airport. XNA has reached out to the Arkansas Department of Health for information about whether the confirmed case in Washington County traveled through XNA.
In the meantime, we are working to aid in the communication of information between all parties potentially affected by this, and we are in communication with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Arkansas Department of Health, and XNA's tenants to assist in the sharing of any information they may provide. The safety of our passengers, employees, and business partners is paramount and we will continue to take all actions we can to protect all who visit XNA.
Washington Regional sent a memo to team members Tuesday (March 17) stating that the provider who came into contact with Bogomilov began a 14-day self-quarantine within about 36 hours of exposure and they remain symptom-free.
Washington Regional confirmed with the Epidemiologist of the ADH that there is an "extremely low risk that this provider would be infections from the period of exposure to self-quarantine."
Low-risk exposures "generally refer to brief interactions with patients with COVID-19."
The memo continues stating in part, "from a desire to protect the well being of our workforce, ERMS consulted CDC guidance and contacted the Arkansas Department of Health. Neither agency recommends self-quarantine for any staff who may have come into contact with this provider in the time before self-quarantine."
Gov. Asa Hutchinson will be giving an update at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to provide an update on the COVID-19 situation in Arkansas.
The University of Arkansas released the following statement:
While no members of the University of Arkansas community have been diagnosed with COVID-19, you may be aware that the first presumptive positive case has been confirmed in Northwest Arkansas. Our primary concern is to reduce the spread of the virus while continuing to serve our campus community to the best of our abilities.