Gov. Asa Hutchinson holds a chart showing the rise of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Arkansas.
Facing a rising number of COVID-19 cases in more counties and evidence of broader community spread, Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday said he would delay re-opening Arkansas schools until April. 17.
In a press briefing flanked by health and education officials in Little Rock, Hutchinson also laid out new recommendations for Arkansas businesses, including restaurants and bars, limiting them to drive-through, take-out or delivery service until further notice.
Hutchinson said the new measures were aimed to “try to shorten the timeframe” of the disruption the virus’ spread has caused American life and business.
“We’re being very aggressive and leaning forward to get a handle on this, to do all we can to make the pain that we’re having now in our society and in our businesses short lived, and that’s the whole goal, that’s the objective of what we’re doing,” he said.
The governor mandated that state employees work remotely, with on-site work limited to essential personnel.
He also mandated the closing of venues like gyms, accessible to essential personnel only. He said hospitals, clinics and mental health facilities should begin screening staff and visitors by taking their temperatures and checking for symptoms, if they’re not already.
And he encouraged businesses to allow workers to telecommute where possible, screen employees and visitors and practice social distancing within the workplace.
The mandates come as new cases were discovered in Pope, Van Buren, Searcy, Craighead, Clark, Independence and Grant counties. The new cases included two children.
Of all the cases confirmed so far, six are children, 41 are ages 19 to 64, and 15 are ages 65 and older, according to Dr. Nathaniel Smith, secretary of the state Department of Health.
Most have not required hospitalization, he said. But Dr. Cam Patterson, chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, pointed out that patients that do require hospitalization can require a lot of attention and resources.
Once again, health officials cited a shortage of personal protective equipment for health workers and said they were working hard to find them. Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Greg Bledsoe said he’d been in contact with people on social media who overbought face masks, offering to buy them.
And officials continue to screen patients in drive-throughs and hospitals. Patterson said UAMS had screened 4,200 people since the outbreak began — half of those on Wednesday. Of all those screenings, seven people tested positive for the virus.
You can watch video of the news conference here:
Video
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