Arkansas COVID-19

The leader of Arkansas’s largest academic medical center says more cargo capacity is needed to provide adequate personal protective equipment to the state’s healthcare workers.

Dr. Cam Patterson, chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, made the appeal during Friday’s news conference by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who said the state currently has 704 positive cases of the coronavirus.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson is again defending his policy of a more targeted approach to restricting daily life in Arkansas as the death toll from COVID-19 rises to 12 people.

Hutchinson announced the latest deaths Thursday, saying 643 people in the state have tested positive for the coronavirus.

With over 30 states in the U.S. implementing "stay-at-home" orders due to the coronavirus pandemic, Arkansas is in the minority of states without one. However, Gov. Asa Hutchinson says a targeted approach is currently a better way for the state to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Speaking live on the public radio program 1A Thursday morning, Hutchinson said targeting and closing businesses and other areas that pose a threat of coronavirus exposure is working for Arkansas at the moment.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he’s asking the federal government for more ventilators as the death toll from COVID-19 in Arkansas rises to 10.

Hutchinson said Wednesday that 584 people in the state have tested positive for the coronavirus, including state Rep. Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna. Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health Dr. Nate Smith said two people over the age of 65 had died from the virus since Tuesday’s briefing.

The death toll from COVID-19 in Arkansas rose to eight Tuesday, with the total number of coronavirus cases at 523.

This comes as state health officials and Gov. Asa Hutchinson say the state’s efforts at "flattening the curve" through social distancing appear to be working.

Students in Arkansas won’t be going back to school until at least April 17. That also means no school breakfast or lunch, but in the meantime, nonprofits and businesses in central Arkansas are working to pick up the slack in the midst of a pandemic.

Stacey Bevans, Regina Doyne and Stacey Moore would normally be at work at Little Rock’s College Station Elementary, but on a recent day were outside, setting up a table full of bag lunches. Doyne, the school's resource teacher, said Gov. Asa Hutchinson's decision to close schools came as a surprise.

Arkansas has had another death from COVID-19, officials announced Monday, bringing the total in the state to seven. Department of Health Secretary Nate Smith said the person was over the age of 65 and is the first death connected to a nursing home. He said Arkansas was up to 473 positive cases, an increase of 47 from Sunday.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Monday that he is allocating an additional $45 million to aid in the purchase of personal protective equipment and ventilators. An original allocation of $30 million wasn’t enough, he said.

The number of coronavirus deaths in Arkansas has risen by one to six and the number of cases is at least 426, up from 404.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state Secretary of Health Dr. Nate Smith said Sunday that it is encouraging that the number of cases in the state is not rising as rapidly as in some parts of the country, such as New York City, but residents must continue doing things such as social distancing and limiting travel.

Hutchinson said the number of hospitalizations due to the virus dropped from 48 on Saturday to 43 on Sunday.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in Arkansas rose from three to five as of Saturday, with Gov. Asa Hutchinson expressing frustration about supply chain issues that are limiting testing for the pandemic that continues to spread globally. He also said the number of weekly jobless applications in the past week totaled more than 30,000, which followed about 9,400 applications in the prior week.

Arkansas was up to 384 positive cases of coronavirus as of 5 p.m. Friday, according to the state Department of Health. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said during an afternoon press briefing that projections suggest that number could increase to 2,000 cases by next weekend and 3,500 in two weeks.

"This is modeling that’s based upon what’s happened in other states, what the experts tell us. It doesn’t mean it has to happen in Arkansas, but those are the kinds of projections that we’re trying to anticipate," Hutchinson said.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and individual healthcare workers can expect a total of $116.3 million in payments to help with screening and care of coronavirus patients.

Hutchinson announced the funds Thursday at the State Capitol, saying a third person in the state has died from COVID-19 as the total number of cases in Arkansas rises to 335. As of 5 p.m. Thursday, that number had risen to 349.

Seeming frustrated by reports that some people in Arkansas are not abiding by social distancing recommendations, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Wednesday he is issuing a directive that will give law enforcement the power to enforce limits on gatherings.

The state has recommended people avoid indoor social gatherings of more than 10 people and keep a distance of six feet between one another during the current health crisis.

Arkansas has experienced its first deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Tuesday that two people had died, while the number of positive cases in the state has risen to 218. Secretary of Health Dr. Nate Smith would not provide details on how the two people who died might have acquired the virus, but said neither had traveled out of state recently and neither were from nursing homes.

Arkansas has had its first deaths from the coronavirus outbreak.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday announced two people have died from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

165 people in Arkansas have tested positive for COVID-19, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Sunday, an increase of 47 cases from Saturday. With testing being expanded this week, officials are warning the number will continue to rise.

44 of the cases involved people at three nursing homes in the state, according to Secretary of Health Dr. Nate Smith. Seniors and people with underlying health conditions are most at risk from the virus.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson says as many as 1,000 Arkansans could be hospitalized due to COVID-19, with the state expected to reach its peak number of coronavirus cases within the next six to eight weeks.

"This number strains our hospitals, our medical system, and our economy and it endangers lives," Hutchinson said.

For the second time this week, Arkansas has seen its largest single-day increase in the number of coronavirus cases; up to 96 Friday, from 62 on Thursday.

The increase also marks the first cases reported in Benton and Greene counties, and the presence of the virus in three nursing homes across Arkansas.