Nursing license

This could be a big mistake

One assumes that a lot of people in a lot of states would trade, straight up, for Asa Hutchinson today. From Florida to Wisconsin, from Texas to Washington state, there are governors who can’t say anything without getting it all over their shirts, and all over the papers.

Gubernatorial missteps can be traced from Albany to Phoenix, from Seattle to Atlanta. Because of a number of emergencies — from the virus, to the shutdown, to the reaction to social unrest — this hasn’t been a good month for governors of both parties.

Arkansas has been lucky to have Asa Hutchinson at the wheel this year. Most Arkansans agree. See the latest Talk Business-Hendrix College poll released last week.

The governor has made few missteps in this danse macabre with covid-19. That is, so far.

Which made watching him last week so puzzling. He announced a date to open nursing homes to outside visitors again: July 1. And for the life of us, or at least the life of some elderly people we know, we can’t figure out why. The virus spiked last week in Arkansas.

Within a week, the state broke records twice, with new infections going over 700 two different days. The mayor of Little Rock is considering making masks a requirement in public places. Fayetteville already has.

After several months of watching this disease, humans know at least a few things about it: 1. This virus hits elderly people with underlying health conditions the hardest. 2. Other people can carry the virus and not know it.

Which is why the shutdown in the first place. And why people running nursing homes have been especially aware of the dangers.

The governor said those in nursing homes need human interaction, which is certain. The part about resuming communal dining and opening salons in the homes seems appropriate. Certainly there is a desire for familial interaction, too, but nursing homes have been creative in providing those links without direct contact. Because the whole point — up to now — was to protect the most vulnerable by keeping away those who could infect them, albeit unintentionally.

Earlier last week, Hutchinson said that thousands of residents and staffers in nursing homes have been tested over the last few months, and only a small percentage had tested positive for the virus. Which means the policy till now has worked. And has protected seniors. Why change things now?

Certainly the state will provide rules, and nursing homes will be on top of matters. Requirements will include masks, social distancing, a limit on those who can see Grandma and, perhaps, even having these visits outdoors. But all it takes is one preteen who wants to hug his Nana for many lives to be put in danger.

Perhaps the governor and Dr. Nate Smith, among others in state leadership, have earned a large amount of trust over the last three months. They certainly have backing among experts. The paper found several people involved in nursing homes statewide, and they support reopening (with precautions). Thursday’s article quoted the Arkansas director of the AARP, the Arkansas Health Care Association, and Arkansas Advocates for Nursing Home Residents.

But the first question at Wednesday’s press conference might have been the best one: Under the opening guidelines issued by the White House, opening nursing homes doesn’t come until phase three. Why is Arkansas opening them in phase two?

The governor says this is the right step at the right time for Arkansas and Arkansas’ nursing homes — and all the people inside. We pray he’s right. We pray his people are right.

But this isn’t football. This isn’t the unemployment rate. A misstep in this dance could mean everything.