Gov. Asa Hutchinson COVID-19 Update

State officials are not considering any renewed restrictions in Arkansas to combat COVID-19 despite an ongoing surge in new cases.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he is against a return to the mandates and restrictions which governed Arkansas’ early response to the pandemic. During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Hutchinson said reimposing statewide restrictions would pose an unnecessary detriment to both education and daily life in Arkansas.

Renewed mandates are an unnecessary detriment, Hutchinson explained, as vaccinations and the use of face masks are proven protections against the virus.

The state is opening a new front in its fight against COVID-19 by acquiring 1.5 million at-home COVID-19 tests. These tests are expected to arrive and will be distributed to the public at no cost. Arkansans can visit the Department of Health’s website at www.healthy.arkansas.gov to find the nearest location where these tests are available.

Arkansas Health Secretary Dr. Jose Romero spoke briefly to encourage parents to vaccinate their children. He cited a preliminary study from the CDC suggesting children infected with the virus are prone to acquiring other medical conditions in the future.

In regards to the state’s COVID-19 figures, the Arkansas Department of Health reported more than 7,700 new cases on Tuesday. That raises the state’s cumulative total to nearly 630,000 transmissions since the pandemic began. Active cases rose by 3,600 to more than 64,000 detected across the state at this time. Deaths rose over the same period by 25 to 9,358 since the spring of 2020.