Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Governor gives virus emergency 60 more days
He laments testing struggles; deaths up by 5, cases by 626
Gov. Asa Hutchinson extended the state’s health emergency by 60 days Friday, as he revealed five additional covid-19 deaths in Arkansas and 626 positive test results compared with the previous day.
While some of the statistics are trending downward, the toll continues to rise, Hutchinson noted during an afternoon coronavirus briefing.
“The pandemic has not abated. It has not gone away. In Arkansas, we have over 500 deaths as a result of this pandemic. We have over 50,000 cumulative cases. We have over 6,000 active cases,” Hutchinson said. “And while we’re making progress, we do remain in a state of emergency, public health wise.”
Five months after the pandemic’s arrival in Arkansas, the state is still unable to get sufficient testing supplies.
In August, it’s handling an average of 5,627 tests per day, less than the 6,056 per day it averaged in June.
On Thursday, the state received another 5,519 test results, bringing the monthly total to 73,150.
Hutchinson was asked whether the testing shortages
reflected a failure of government leadership and why the problems persisted.
“I’m not sure I can answer that. I know that they’ve worked hard but, the fact is, it’s not fixed yet,” he said. “I’m hoping that this month, it will be fixed, that we’re looking at a lot of different solutions.”
“I know federally, they’re pushing the laboratories to
do more. I know that they have made acquisitions,” he said.
It is “disappointing that we’re … still struggling with sufficient testing,” he said.
The problems, he noted, have occurred “across the United States.”
“It’s not my role, and it’s not the right time, to say what we haven’t done or what we should have done better,” Hutchinson said.
“There’s going to be a time in history that we’ll have a review commission for covid-19 and we’re going to look at that more deeply so we can learn from it. But now’s not the time,” he said.
Instead, the focus should be on fixing “a system that’s not working perfectly right now,” he said.
CUMULATIVE TOTAL TOPS 52,000
Thus far, 52,392 people have tested positive for the virus in Arkansas since the beginning of the pandemic March 11, with 6,359 of those still active.
That’s down from 6,582 on Thursday.
Pulaski County, with 800, has the most active cases, followed by Sebastian County with 419 and Chicot County with 344.
Statewide, 466 covid-19 patients are hospitalized, down seven from Thursday. The number on ventilators is 113, an increase of one.
Of the new cases announced Friday, 189 are in the prison system, officials said.
Chicot County, home of the Department of Corrections’ Delta Regional Unit, reported 141 new positive cases; 136 of those were from the prison.
Elsewhere in Arkansas, Pulaski County had the most new positive cases, with 53; followed by Hot Spring (30); White (28); Saline (23); Washington (22); and Pope (20) counties.
Covid-19 statistics are provisional and subject to change, state officials note.
Elderly Arkansans are the most vulnerable. Of the 1,650 nursing-home and assisted-living residents testing positive, 191 have died. In addition, 1,128 nursing-home workers have tested positive; two have died.
Covid-19 also has swept through the state’s jails and prisons. Since Arkansas’ first positive test, 4,705 inmates statewide have tested positive, with 35 succumbing to the illness, department spokeswoman Cindy Murphy said. Currently, 632 inmates still have active cases.
At the Delta Regional Unit, 558 inmates have been tested, with 328 coming back positive. Of those, 170 have not yet recovered. None of the cases there has proved fatal, Murphy said.
The spike in cases comes as Arkansas increases its testing of inmates.
“We are getting help from the Arkansas National Guard, and our expectation is that all of our inmates will be tested before the end of August, so it’s a really robust testing schedule right now,” she said.
“Our approach has always been that if we have one positive inmate, we test the entire unit,” she said. “A lot of states will only test if an inmate has symptoms. As you know, a high percentage of these positives are asymptomatic.”
So far, 12,122 inmates have been tested, she said.
Testing 100% of all inmates, Hutchinson said, “allows us to detect any positive cases to get ahead of it, to make sure that we don’t get behind, in terms of dealing with this in the prison system.”
Members of the Board of Corrections have been instructed to identify and consider early release for nonviolent offenders who are nearing the end of their sentences, he said.
PUBLIC SCHOOL SPORTS TO RESUME
At Friday’s briefing, Hutchinson said school-sponsored team sports will resume in the coming weeks. Attendance, theoretically, will be capped at 66% of capacity, he said. But social distancing also will be required. Masks will be mandatory for everyone 10 years of age or older. Where there are bleachers, every other row must remain empty.
These requirements, released Friday, “may put actual capacity between 25[%]-50%,” the state Health Department directive said.
Abiding by the rules will enable games to resume, Hutchinson suggested.
“My admonition is, let’s not only start the season this year, but let’s work to finish the season,” Hutchinson said. “That’s what’s important and that’s going to take everyone’s help.”
The governor also reiterated the importance of providing additional assistance to Arkansans who are unemployed. The $600 per week in enhanced unemployment benefits ended at the end of July after Congress failed to reach an agreement on extending it.
Thursday, the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate adjourned without passing a new covid-19 relief bill. Senators are not scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., until after Labor Day, in more than three weeks.
Arkansans who are out of work are struggling, Hutchinson said.
“We understand the challenge and the frustration that they have. We have the standard amount of unemployment compensation but that is less than the wage they would make if employed,” he said.
It’s important to “keep our economy moving” so that more Arkansans can return to work, Hutchinson said.
In the meantime, Hutchinson wants the federal government to do more. “We want a solution to this. We do believe that it’s important for our economy and for individual families to have an additional amount for unemployment compensation that could be agreed upon by Congress,” he said. “These are tough times and we want to make sure that the safety net is there as well. We monitor our food banks. We want to make sure that they’re well-supplied to help our citizens as they endure some economic hardships.”
Hutchinson, a delegate for President Donald Trump, is scrapping plans to attend the Republican National Convention, he said after Friday’s news conference. The convention is Aug. 24-27.
He would have been the Arkansas delegation chairman.
“I am not going to Charlotte. I just made that decision, really, today,” he said. “I just think it’s important as we get ready for school that I stay here in the state during this time of emergency.”