BOONEVILLE, Ark. — Close to half of the clients who live at the DHS Facility in Logan County have tested positive for COVID-19 and the other half are in quarantine.
The Booneville Human Development Center has a total of 123 clients who live at the facility and 265 staff members.
On Tuesday (Aug. 11) DHS says 51 clients and 55 employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
71 clients and 59 employees are currently in quarantine.
Division Director for Developmental Services Melissa Stone says the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) has sent a team, including an infectious disease specialist, into the facility.
“They’ve been on site. We really value their opinion to make sure that we are doing everything that we are supposed to do in terms of infection disease control," Stone said. "We have an infectious disease nurse that works at that campus.”
While the center is a congregate setting similar to a nursing home, the clients live in six cottages spread out on the campus.
Stone says they have also had another group come in to do an infectious disease survey because they want to make sure they are doing the best job they can.
She says all employees who have to work around the COVID-19 patients wear the full PPE recommended by the ADH and CDC.
“Of course, they should be wearing a mask when they are not at work, so you can’t ever guarantee anything, but we are doing everything possible to not take the virus outside of the campus,” Stone said.
As of Tuesday (Aug. 11), there are a total of 133 active COVID-19 cases in Logan County. 106 of those cases are from the Booneville Human Development Center.
Logan County Judge Ray Gack wants to remind everyone how important it is to wear face coverings.
“I know a lot of our local law enforcement aren’t enforcing this," Gack said. "I understand they have other things they have to be doing. Everybody needs to take personal responsibility on this thing. We are all in this together. No one is separated from anybody else, it affected everyone in this whole entire world and everyone needs to take some personal responsibility and just try it.”
DHS says the Booneville Human Development Center is still closed to all visitors at this time. They say so far, four clients have required hospital treatment and five people have recovered from the virus. They also say there have been no deaths at any of their human development centers throughout the state.