Video below… Gov. Asa Hutchinson holds press conference Thursday, July 31st, 2021 to address public health issues concerning the rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, in conjunction with the upcoming start of the new school year.
Governor Asa Hutchinson held a press conference on Thursday afternoon to declare a public health emergency beginning immediately, and extending for 60 days. He stated that the General Assembly still must approve it.
Hutchinson said there are two reasons for doing this. The first is for Arkansas Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) to seek necessary staffing assistance for the Inter-state Compact. The second reason is to ease licensure of healthcare professionals, to speed entry or return into service.
-
- Overall numbers
-
- Vaccination status
-
- % of C-19 hospitalized, by age
-
- % of C-19 overall hospitalized etc
The governor stated he has also asked the White House for federal assistance and they are sending the Surge Response Team to Arkansas, to “evaluate, strategize, and maximize hospital space.”
The governor’s final announcement is that he is calling a special legislative session to amend Act 1002 so that school districts can make decisions “public health-wise” for their students and staff, but particularly for students under age 12, since they are currently unable to get vaccinated.
Click the image to enlarge and read the title, or click the Act 1002 link above to read the entire Act.
“There will be no statewide mask mandate imposed by me,” stated Hutchinson. “The legislature of course has made that clear as well. This is not a debate about mask mandates for those that can make their own decisions and have means to get vaccinated. This is a discussion about the school environment where schools can make decisions to add to the public health for their own school environment and the children they have the responsibility to protect.”
See the full news conference in the video embedded below: