Day 42 – Tue. Apr. 22, 2020

Here are some Key Notes, Statistics, and Video for Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson’s news update on the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor welcomed Dr. Nate Smith, Arkansas Cabinet Secretary of Health.

The Governor displayed several graphs, including daily number of cases of COVID-19 (fig. 1), the rolling 7-Day cases totals with inmates (fig. 2) and without inmates (fig. 3). Hutchinson stated that based on the goal of reopening some things on May 4th – if the public is doing all the right things – and based on guidance from Dr. Smith and others, the state is lifting restrictions on elective procedures in hospitals and clinics, effective Monday April 27th.

The governor revealed a timeline for future decision points leading to May 4th. He reiterated that May 4th is a target date for lifting some restrictions – only if we continue to make progress on reducing Community spread of COVID-19. The following announcements will be made on the corresponding dates about whether or not to open certain sectors on May 4th.

April 29th restaurants
April 30th gyms
May 1st barber shops and beauty salons
May 4th places of worship and larger venues

If the decision is made to reopen any of these, it would become effective on May 4th, 2020.

Dr. Smith elaborated on the restrictions for elective surgeries that could begin Monday, April 27th.

It must be day surgery (outpatient),
The patient must have no symptoms of COVID-19,
The patient must have had no contact with a known case of COVID-19, and
The patient must have been tested within 48 hours of the procedure.
Facilities are encouraged to start slow with smaller numbers of patients in build-up.
They should also make sure they have adequate PPE to protect from the spread of disease.
Rural hospitals are excluded from the restrictions.

He urged that the timing of reopening will be based on the numbers. “So if you throw a party this weekend and you get a bunch of people infected and our numbers go up, you’ll ruin it for everyone,” stated Dr. Smith.

He asked that people continue practicing physical distancing, using a mask, frequent hand-washing, and not gathering in groups of ten or more.

Dr. Nate Smith, State Secretary of Health listed the current statistics for COVID-19 patients below:

42 deaths, down by 1
2276 cases, up by 49
- 36 new cases were from the general population
- 13 new cases were from Cummins prison
- 681 total inmate cases at Cummins State prison
- 14 total staff cases at Cummins State prison
- The state will be testing additional barracks.
- The state has finished testing inmates, but they are still awaiting some results. They are testing staff now.
1371 active cases
863 recovered, up by 54
97 hospitalized, up by 11
- 1 case turned out to be a Missouri resident
23 on a ventilator, down by 4
262 total health care workers
- 148 of those have recovered
170 nursing home residents, up by 35
- 31 nursing homes under investigation