Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson held a news conference on Monday, March 30th, 2020 to update on the COVID-19 pandemic.
SEE VIDEO BELOW.
Hutchinson stated that the $30 million previously allocated for PPEs won’t last through crisis, and therefore, $45 million will be added for PPEs and ventilators as they become available. The plan is to have enough equipment through 60 days.
He also stated that in a conference call with President Trump and staff, it was evident that larger cities are the focus.
Under the CARES Act, states will receive federal funds in the next 30 days and they must be allocated by December 31, 2020.
The Governor has created an Executive Order to form a 15-member steering committee to make decisions about how the money should be allocated. This committee will be made up of the Governor’s staff and members of the legislature.
The amount of funds expected to come to Arkansas is $1.25 billion. The money would go toward things like hospital beds, ventilators, respirators, and PPEs.
Dr. Nate Smith, State Secretary of Arkansas Department of Health listed the current statistics for COVID-19 patients as follows:
- 473 cases
- 7 deaths
- 17 aged under 18
- 307 aged 19-64
- 149 aged 65 or over
- 62 hospitalized
- 21 currently on a ventilator
- 29 recovered
- 60% women
- 40% men
- 74% Caucasian
- 15% African American
Stacy Hurst, Secretary of the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism, stated that park lodges are closed. Bathhouses, visitor centers and museums are also closed. Camping is still open in some areas but limited to certain types. They have started doing contactless check-in at parks. Parks staff will be driving around and monitoring to be sure parks visitors aren’t gathering in ways that violated the directive of fewer than 10 in a group and keeping a distance of at least 6 feet apart.
Hurst stated, “We need everyone to take seriously their responsibility to flatten the curve.”