Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday that he was dispatching 10 members of the Arkansas National Guard to assist case management work at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville.
The announcement came as Hutchinson said the number of hospitalizations due to coronavirus in the state -- 471 as of Monday -- remained at a level that he said threatened to strain hospital resources and workers.
On Monday, the Health Department said it had identified 699 new cases of the virus over the previous 24 hours, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the state to 33,927. Of those, 7,127 cases are considered active, according to interim Health Secretary Jose Romero.
Hospitalizations rose by 18, according to Romero. Six additional people were on a ventilator, for a total of 111.
The governor presented a graph at his coronavirus press briefing Monday that showed Arkansas leading all but one of its neighboring states -- Mississippi -- in the number of hospitalizations per 100,000 people.
“You’ve got a number of states, including Texas that is getting so much publicity with their hospital capacity, but we have more in terms of per capita hospitalizations than even some of those larger states,” Hutchinson said.
Romero said six additional people have died as a result of the virus, bringing the toll to 363.
A total of 7,127 cases are active, Romero said, with 121 in nursing homes, 1,093 in correctional facilities and 5,953 in the community. A total of 26,397 people have recovered so far.
The governor also defended his decision to implement a statewide mask mandate on Monday, after four GOP state legislators led a small rally at the state Capitol protesting the order immediately prior to his news conference.
In an apparent reference to the group, which included several farmers and a parade of tractors carrying American flags, the governor said he grew up on a farm in northwest Arkansas where “neighbors help neighbors.”
The governor’s mandate went into effect today, and applies to people who are in public and unable to keep six feet of distance from others. It includes exceptions for children, certain workers and people with medical conditions.
EARLIER:
Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state health officials will provide an update on Arkansas' covid-19 response at 1:30 p.m.
The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Arkansas remained at 33,228 Monday morning, according to a state website. The death toll remained at 357.
Check back to watch the live video.
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