2:35 P.M. UPDATE:
State Health Secretary Nate Smith on Sunday afternoon reported an increase of at least 87 positive coronavirus cases in Arkansas, for a total of at least 830 people. Smith also reported a total of 12 people infected at the federal prison, with eight inmates and four guards testing positive.
EARLIER:
The number of people infected with coronavirus at the federal prison in Forrest City has risen to 14, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on Sunday morning.
Hutchinson provided the updated number while appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press. Altogether, 10 inmates and four guards at the low-security facility have tested positive.
Hutchinson spoke with host Chuck Todd, alongside fellow guest Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, as the Arkansas Department of Health reported an increase in the number of confirmed cases in the state by 76, bringing its total to 819.
During his appearance, Hutchinson defended his decision not to issue a stay-at-home order for the state.
“In Arkansas we’re doing everything that the surgeon general has outlined, plus more,” he said.
Hutchinson compared the number of cases in Arkansas to states with a stay-at-home order, saying it has slowed the spread more than several where such an order has already been issued.
Hundreds of thousands of workers would continue going to work despite an order to shelter in place, according to the governor.
With regard to the Forrest City prison, Hutchinson said: “That’s a federal facility, but stay-at-home doesn’t work there.”
Todd, citing UAMS Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Steppe Mette, said that Arkansas had been outbid by another state for 500 ventilators. He asked Hutchinson whether such bidding is “the way it should be,” and whether the federal government should step in to prevent bidding wars over crucial pandemic resources.
The situation is difficult, replied Hutchinson, who said he’d like to see a better way but added “that’s the reality in which we are.”
“We recognize that the federal government has said we’re your backstop,” he said. “You’ve got to get out there and compete. And it literally is a global jungle that we’re competing in now.”
Hutchinson said the state has received assurances from the federal level that ventilators will come to Arkansas should they become needed.
"Whether it should or shouldn’t be, that is where we are right now," he said.