Amid the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. has declared a state of emergency for Arkansas' capital city and is urging anyone holding events of more than 200 people in the next month to reschedule.
Scott said Thursday morning in a social media post that the declaration is preemptive and allows the city to receive additional resources from state and federal governments if needed.
About three hours later, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced that the state's number of presumptive positive cases of covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, had risen to six. The first presumptive case was confirmed Wednesday. The patients are associated with Saline, Jefferson, Pulaski and Grant counties.
Little Rock is rescheduling or holding virtual sessions for events that were expected to have at least 200 attendees and take place in coming weeks. Those events include the Little Rock Police Unity Ball, the Rights After Wrongs re-entry services fair, the Little Rock Zoo Wild Wines fundraiser, and the Little Rock Sustainability Summit, which will be held virtually via the city's YouTube channel.
[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]
Scott urged local event organizers to take similar steps.
"It is my sincere desire that organizers will follow suit and reschedule all large events of expected attendance over 200 people that will put people in close proximity within the next 30 days," Scott said in the news release. "State and federal health officials have repeatedly advised that social distancing is an important step to take towards preventing the spread of this highly contagious virus."
Later Thursday, the city announced a number of measures being taken to limit the virus's spread.
Starting this morning, city, community and recreation centers will be closed through March 30. Programming for senior citizens at the centers is suspended until further notice.
The Jim Dailey Fitness and Aquatic Center also will close. Stephanie Jackson, communications director for the mayor's office, said events scheduled at the Centre at University Park that have up to 200 attendees will go ahead as scheduled.
Little Rock Zoo indoor buildings will be closed to the public through March 30, though outside exhibits will remain open. Indoor programming and events at the zoo have been canceled.
Across the river, North Little Rock officials announced that the city would close all community centers, adult fitness centers, both branches of the William F. Laman public library system and the Hays Senior Citizens Center effective at 8 p.m. Thursday. The facilities will remain closed until at least March 30, officials said.
The Irish Cultural Society of Arkansas also made the decision Thursday afternoon to cancel its annual St. Patrick's Day parade, which was to pass through Little Rock and North Little Rock on Saturday.
"Although this decision has been heartbreaking, we know it is the best decision for our committee, volunteers, participants and the community," parade co-chairman Eimear Fuller wrote in a Facebook post. "From the bottom of our hearts we truly thank everyone who has supported us and this parade."
Little Rock's covid-19 task force, which Scott announced Tuesday, is to hold its first meeting at 1 p.m. today in the City Hall boardroom. It will be live-streamed at littlerock.gov and on the city's Facebook page.
Dr. Dean Kumpuris, city director at-large and the task force's chairman, said the group of medical professionals plans to assess the capacity of local hospitals and what opportunities health providers have to combat the spread of the virus, as well as their limitations.
"We can only do 20 tests for the whole state a day, and that's the biggest one right now," Kumpuris said.
The task force chairman said he hoped to have some "frank discussion" about how to get information out about testing and treatment, though he said that information would have been more effective if the city had started this process one or two weeks ago, when there were no cases in the state.
"We're now having to deal with reality," said Kumpuris, a gastroenterologist. "It'll work out. We've got good people, and we'll figure it all out."
Jackson said the city's emergency management department has been in constant communication with Pulaski County and state officials.
North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith said he has talked with some officials in Jacksonville, but for the most part conversations have been limited to within the city.
"I think we are all kind of scrambling to protect our own first," he said.
Smith said he has been in contact with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management and has followed the lead of Arkansas Department of Health Secretary Nate Smith.
North Little Rock officials said they are following the state's suggestions. City spokesman Jim Billings said at a meeting Wednesday that officials talked extensively about the virus and decided to follow guidelines from Hutchinson.
"The mayor says we're not going to reinvent the wheel," he said.
The Central Arkansas Library System announced Thursday that it is suspending programs and events, effective immediately, through the end of March. All library locations will continue to operate under standard hours, but will suspend the use of public meeting rooms through the end of the month and promote social distancing in shared spaces, the library system said on social media.
Effective today, the system is also putting in place a policy that children younger than 16 who use the libraries should be accompanied by an adult 18 or older. That policy will remain in place until public health concerns are lifted.
Little Rock officials, as well as regional agencies, have been working on contingency plans in case a large number of employees become ill.
Central Arkansas Water, the water source for several counties in the region, expects covid-19 to have no effect on its operations, utility spokesman Doug Shackelford said Thursday.
Shackelford said the utility has activated its pandemic response plan, meaning it has identified the essential employees necessary to maintain operations in case the pandemic grows. The response team will meet daily to assess the situation and make any changes necessary, he said.
The spokesman also noted that the virus cannot survive in treated drinking water because of the treatment process, so the water is and will remain safe to drink.
Rock Region Metro, the regional transit authority, said it already had some public health procedures in place before the virus began to spread but has made additions since.
Agency spokeswoman Becca Green said Rock Region Metro is cleaning its buses, streetcars and other vehicles daily, rather than every other day. The agency already provided hand sanitizer on all of its vehicles and gave its drivers gloves, she said.
What's new is a machine that the agency purchased last week that fogs vehicles with sanitizer, Green said. The fogging equipment is something other transit agencies across the country are using. She did not immediately have numbers about the costs of the new equipment but said the equipment was not prohibitively expensive.
"All of the transit agencies are sharing information through our industry network about what everybody's doing, and of course we have colleagues that are at larger systems that have been dealing with a breakout in their area for a while now," Green said.
There were no changes in service for the system as of Thursday evening, but Green said the transit authority has a plan if it sees a large number of absences.
Green said a contingency plan would prioritize routes that include dialysis centers, so that patients who use public transit can continue to receive life-saving treatment. Any service changes will be posted on the agency's website, rrmetro.org, and on its mobile app.
"It's possible we may have to cut down service at some point," she said. "We're not there yet, but we're keeping an eye on all of that."
Information for this article was contributed by Stephen Simpson of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 03/13/2020