Thursday COVID Update: Gyms reopen May 4th with restrictions; $15M grant program immediately inundated

Here are some Key Notes, Statistics, and Video for Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson’s news update on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Governor displayed the usual charts to show how cases and hospitalizations are progressing. He then announced that as of Monday May 4th, Arkansas gyms will be allowed to reopen, with some restrictions.

: Daily Cases

: Rolling Average

: Hospitalizations

: By County

Guidelines for Gyms, Fitness Centers and Indoor Athletic Facilities:

Screening for staff and patrons
No entry for:
- Recent travelers to N.Y., N.J. Conn., New Orleans, overseas
- Those with fever, symptoms, recent contact with COVID-19 patient
- Anyone with compromised immune systems or chronic disease
Temperature check for staff
Face coverings for staff and patrons, except when actively exercising
No pools, spas, showers, saunas
Hand sanitizer available
Equipment sanitized after each use
12-foot distancing while working and during training sessions, classes
No personal contact

Click to read the official directive from the Arkansas Department of Health.

On a related topic, the governor stated that at this time youth summer sports will not be allowed. “We’re not ready to re-engage those yet and so we’ll have to take another look at teen and youth sports in mid- to late May.” There is currently a directive that prohibits those activities through May 31, 2020. The Governor stated that after mid-May, the State will announce what will be allowed for teen & youth sports for the remainder of the summer.

Hutchinson stressed that social restrictions are still in place. “Just because we’re lifting some restrictions and opening up opportunities for us to start moving back to normal, we still want to maintain our downward curve. The guidance from the State is to continue distancing and wear a masks when that’s not possible.

“It’s all up to us as to how we do it on this,” stated Hutchinson. “It’s all up to us individually and collectively, as to whether we make progress and be able to open more up, or whether we are not successful and we have to retreat. So I’m calling upon everyone to take this seriously and to help us to comply with the very well-thought-out guidelines from the Department of Health.”

In response to a reporter question about the grant program introduced yesterday, the Governor said, “During the time frame – which is less than an hour – that the Ready for Business grant program was on the website, we had over 2,300 businesses apply for grants – that’s over $36 million.”

He gave a few other statistics, shown below:

92% of the applicants had fewer than 50 employees
59% of the applicants had fewer than 10 employees
57% of the requested amounts were businesses fewer than 50 employees

Hutchinson said when the link went on the website to apply, the program was not yet approved by the legislature. He also said he will research to see if more money should be added to the program. “We were educated by that response, and now what we have to do is to work with the legislature. Are we going to increase the funding for this? I think it shows that it’s really going to the people that were targeted. Which is primarily those that are struggling, that have had their businesses impacted the small business people.”

He also said that since no applications have been approved yet, its possible that many won’t qualify, and there could be funds left from the original $15 million allotted by the Department of Commerce.

Dr. Smith noted that since elective surgeries began again on Monday, April 27th, and those patients are required to have a covid-19 test within 48 hours of surgery, the Arkansas Department of Health is urging testing facilities to complete tests and have results ready within that 48-hour window.

Dr. Smith listed the current statistics for COVID-19 patients below: