Gov. Asa Hutchinson Update

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he is challenging state officials to do more to help Arkansas residents struggling to meet their rent because of financial struggles due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Hutchinson said the state has so far provided around $7 million in rental assistance to Arkansas residents. In all the program has assisted less than 3,000 people out of the 13,700 applicants received by the Department of Human Services. The program has a total of $173 million in rental assistance. Hutchinson said he is challenging DHS to streamline the process to ensure more applicants are approved and funds are disbursed in a quicker manner.

Hutchison also took a moment to recognize Marine SSGT Taylor Hoover of Arkansas. Hoover was one of the 13 U.S. servicemembers killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan last Thursday. Hutchinson also announced the Arkansas National Guard was deploying members to assist in hurricane-ravaged parts of the Gulf Coast.

As far as the vaccination effort in Arkansas, an additional 8,000 Arkansans were fully immunized over the past 24 hours. In total more than 1.2 million Arkansans are now fully vaccinated against the virus. Hutchinson again stressed the vaccine’s benefits, including the reduced chance for severe COVID-19 complications and hospitalization. 

The Arkansas Department of Health reported over 2,600 new cases of COVID-19 across the state on Tuesday. That raises the state’s cumulative total of COVID-19 transmissions to more than 453,000 since the pandemic began. Deaths increased by 22 over the previous 24-hour period for a total of 6,934. The active caseload saw a slight decline but, at a current total of more than 22,000, remains at one of the highest levels recorded since COVID-19 first entered Arkansas.

The one bright spot in Tuesday’s report was hospitalizations, which declined by 45 to leave 1,212 Arkansans still hospitalized due to the virus.

Credit: Patrick Massey KDQN