Governor’s COVID Update

Public health officials in Arkansas are loosening quarantine procedures for students in K-12 in hopes of keeping more kids in class.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the changes during his weekly COVID-19 Taskforce press conference on Tuesday. Those changes include reducing the close contact definition from six feet to three feet over a 15-minute period. In addition, the state’s test-to-stay guidelines have been expanded to include not just the school day but all school-related extracurricular activities. 

Other guidelines already in place include removing the requirement to quarantine if the contact is vaccinated, or if both the case and contact were wearing a mask at the time of exposure. These guidelines, as well as the changes announced Tuesday, only affect students in grades K-12. 

Dr. Tony Thurman, superintendent of the Cabot School District, said these changes will have a beneficial impact on school attendance rates and education in general.    

Arkansas Health Secretary Dr. Jose Romero said his department will continue to perform contact tracing within schools. In addition, he said the three-feet rule could return to six-feet if the COVID-19 situation worsens in Arkansas schools.