Governor approves additional National Guard personnel
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he and his team are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
During the daily briefing regarding the virus Friday, Hutchinson showed a model projecting the number of cases in the state over the next couple of weeks.
“The plan is to do all we can to beat the worst models or the worst case scenarios, and to reduce case number and hospitalization rate,” Hutchinson said.
Based on the model, which was developed with the state health department and the UAMS College of Public Health, the state would go from Friday’s 381 cases to 2,000 by the first week in April or reach 3,500 cases two weeks from now.
Hutchinson and Secretary of Health Dr. Nate Smith said the model is based on the data the health department has now.
“It’s doing a best fit curve. The further you go out with it, the less precise it can be,” Smith said. “This gives us an idea for the next couple weeks what we can expect and how our prevention efforts can impact that.”
Hutchinson said it’s too early to determine when the state will peak in cases, but he and the state department look at the data daily to determine the best next steps.
Smith and the governor announced the state has 381 cases, as of their 1:30 p.m. briefing, an increase of 46 cases from Thursday.
Smith said of those cases, 15 are children 18 years and younger, 124 are those 65 or older and 242 are those 1964. He said 48 patients are hospitalized, up seven from Thursday, and 17 are on ventilators. He also said 42 are in nursing homes and 19 people meet the recovered criteria.
No new deaths were announced.
Smith said the model Hutchinson presented helps the department and the state decide how they need to proceed. He also said it helps them understand how to work with hospitals to build their bed capacity so they don’t become overwhelmed.
Hutchinson announced his approval of 10 additional National Guard personnel to aid the health department and corp of engineers to expand hospital bed capacity.
Smith said the department is looking at all of the available option for bed expansion, but looking toward recently closed hospitals first as they could be opened more quickly than facilities that have been closed longer. However,
he said these locations are ideal since they’re already set up for patient care.
“If we need it, we’ll look at other spaces that could be converted,” Smith said.
Smith also said he and the department of health are working together with homeless shelter organizations to protect that population as well.
Col. Bill Bryant, director of the Arkansas State Police, also attended the briefing. He said law enforcement will help enforce the state health department’s directive that prohibits gatherings of 10 or more people. He said they will begin with a reasonable approach and voluntary compliance, but will use enforcement if necessary.
LOCAL INFORMATION
According to the state health department’s map, Union County is still reporting one to four positive cases of COVID-19.
El Dorado’s City Hall Facebook page posted a notice Friday announcing payment for for El Dorado Water Utilities bills can be dropped off at Simmons Bank at 100 W Grove. The post notes Simmons Bank agreed to accept check and money orders only at the front lobby doors starting March 30.
Those using this system will insert the bill, check or money order in an envelope found in the first set of doors to the Simmons Bank lobby. Then slide the payment under the second set of double doors, and the payments will be collected at 4 p.m. every day and applied to the accounts.
“This is an effort to cut down on drive thru wait time for customers due to the COVID-19 situation,” the post states.