WEDNESDAY UPDATE:
The total number of cases in Arkansas has risen to 33, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday.
EARLIER STORY:
Starting at midnight, a nightly, citywide curfew will be in place in Little Rock and all city facilities will be closed to the general public in an effort to reduce the spread of covid-19, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced Monday.
Scott also announced that the city will postpone all meetings and events with more than 50 people in attendance, following the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The curfew hours are midnight to 5 a.m., beginning Wednesday morning. The new rules do not apply to health care workers or anyone working an overnight shift.
The announcement came shortly after the state Health Department reported that the number of confirmed cases in Arkansas has risen to 22.
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"This curfew is to further discourage unnecessary social gathering," Scott said.
Little Rock Police Chief Keith Humphrey said officers will not stop people in their vehicles unless they are violating normal traffic laws. Police will "proactively remind" those out in public between midnight and 5 a.m. of the curfew, Humphrey said.
Scott said the curfew is mandated, but when asked he did not clarify what the penalty for violation of the curfew would be.
"Little Rock, this is not a time to panic at all," Scott said. "We are overprepared. We are taking every cautionary measure. We want to take this situation seriously but not panic at all. We will get through this. This is our journey right now and we will get through this journey, but we have to do so as a united Little Rock."
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An end date has not been established for the curfew. Scott said the city will evaluate the measure every two weeks.
In response to a question from homeless service provider, Scott said in a tweet after the news conference that those who are unsheltered would not be ticketed or arrested because of the curfew.
Scott noted that the city does not have the authority to close bars or restaurants without approval from the state secretary of health. He said he recommends eateries shift to delivery and takeout options.
"Let's continue to support our local eateries by utilizing the various takeout and delivery options that are provided," Scott said. "We are strongly urging them to move forward this way."
Since city buildings will be closed to the public starting Wednesday , Scott urged vendors looking to conduct business with the city to do so via the city's online portals.
"We will always maintain the business and industry of the city of Little Rock," he said.
The city announced Sunday that all parks and recreation facilities would be closed starting Monday, including golf courses and the Rebsamen Tennis Center. They are scheduled to reopen March 30. The Little Rock Zoo is closed until at least March 30.
Scott said city employees, as permitted by their department directors, will be allowed to work remotely.
The Little Rock Board of Directors meeting today will take place at the Robinson Center rather than City Hall in an effort to ensure that all city directors may sit at least 6 feet apart, per recommendations from the CDC, Scott said. The public is encouraged to watch online on cable access channel 11, littlerock.gov, or the city's YouTube channel.
Residents who would like to participate in the citizen comments portion of the meeting may send statements or questions to board@littlerock.gov or call (501) 371-4766 to reach the city's deputy clerk.
All other Little Rock city board and commission meetings are canceled until further notice.
Anthony Snell, executive director of the Metropolitan Housing Authority, said Monday that Little Rock's public housing agency had distributed information about the outbreak and the guidelines from the CDC. Residents of public housing complexes may only have "essential" family members as visitors, Snell said.
"We are just taking all the precautionary measures," he said.
Snell said the housing authority had not yet made a determination on whether it would halt evictions, but that the housing authority realized the impact the public health situation would have on low-income residents. He said the agency would work with residents on an individual basis.
NLR PROCLAMATION
North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith issued an emergency proclamation Monday afternoon to protect public health and render emergency relief, according to a news release.
The proclamation recommends all nonessential public meetings where 25 or more people may be gathered to be postponed, and recommends that all nonessential personnel avoid the City Council meeting March 23.
Smith placed the city on an "impending disaster" alert earlier in the day, meaning all city employees are on call and emergency supplies are being prepared. Smith said city officials have started to identify essential personnel and were conducting a count of emergency supplies.
He also told all department heads to be prepared to meet every day.
"We are getting a plan for the long haul," Smith said.
He said the plan includes staggering work times for electric, sanitation and street crews as well as putting all city employees on call. The city's police and fire departments are expected to continue business as usual.
"We are actually taking the temperature of firefighters before they come into work every day," Smith said.
Smith said a curfew isn't in the plan for North Little Rock, saying he doesn't see the need for one in his city.
"Our streets are pretty empty around that time anyway and we don't have large gathering places where 50 or more people would be at after midnight," he said. "I haven't talked to Frank yet to see his reasoning behind it, but it's not something we are looking at."
The North Little Rock mayor said he also doesn't plan to close most city facilities.
"We are in a different situation than Little Rock because we run a $100 million electric utility facility," Smith said. "This means a lot of our walk-in traffic is people needing to pay bills, get power turned on or off, and we have to be here to do that.
"If the number of cases gets really crazy, then we will meet again and talk about closing down city facilities."
North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Director Terry Hartwick said the city's dog park, playgrounds, archery, disc golf course, walking trails and bike trails will all be open. The baseball fields and basketball courts have been closed.
Burns Park Golf Course manager and resident professional Steve Ralston said his department decided to make some changes after learning Rebsamen Golf Course in Little Rock closed. He said the North Little Rock course won't close, but it will take steps to limit contact between patrons and staff, starting with the elimination of cash transactions.
"We are going to try to get patrons to pay with a credit card in advance, and if they have to cancel for any reason then they get credit for the next round," he said. "We will also have carts outside waiting for them with their names on it."
Ralston said all of this is an attempt to keep the golf course open and make it as convenient as possible while avoiding in-person contact.
"I imagine there will be some stir-crazy people sitting inside all day, and this will provide them a little relief in the open air," he said.
OTHER CITIES' STEPS
Benton Mayor Tom Farmer said the city will continue to do business as usual, but he wants residents to do as much business as possible by phone, email or through the website.
"We need for all citizens to respect the health of city employees," Farmer said in an email. "If you have to come to City Hall, we will have the middle doors open and ask that you go to the receptionist to answer a few questions. We ask that you use the hand sterilizer before approaching her protected area."
Farmer said the receptionist also will ask a series of questions provided by Saline Memorial Hospital. The questions include travel over the past 14 days, and whether they are running a temperature and showing any other symptoms associated with the virus.
"We also ask that you use the recommendation of social distance when talking to employees in person if there is an emergency," Farmer said.
The city of Bryant had not closed buildings as of Monday afternoon.
"We have asked that residents be mindful of the situation and conduct all business that they can either via phone or the internet," Mayor Allen Scott said in an email.
Pay windows for water billing and district court billing have been closed to protect the public and city employees.
The city's permits and code enforcement window is open, but the city is requesting that any nonemergency needs along with license and permit payments be made online, by phone or by mail if possible.
All other city buildings remain fully staffed. All city employees are reporting to work with the exception of those who have child care issues due to school closures.
Recreational facilities -- including The Center at Bishop Park, Bryant Aquatic Center, Bryant Senior Center and the Bryant Boys and Girls Club -- are closed until March 30. All tournaments, youth leagues, reservations or gatherings throughout the Bryant parks system are canceled until further notice.
Cabot closed off city facilities to the public Monday, but employees will remain available to answer calls and emails, Mayor Ken Kincade said.
Kincade said the idea to shut off city facilities from the public was made after communicating with the county's Department of Emergency Management, the county judge and the state's Department of Health.
"We have been monitoring the situation for a while and we believe this is the best decision at this time," he said.
Kincade said the city isn't planning to follow the lead of Little Rock and implement a curfew, but he is asking residents to be smart.
"We are telling people to not panic, be prepared, be safe, but there is no reason to stockpile," Kincade said.
Fort Smith, the state's second-largest city, hadn't made any announcements by deadline Monday regarding whether it might institute a curfew. City Administrator Carl Geffken did not return two phone calls seeking comment Monday.
Jonesboro Mayor Harold Perrin reiterated CDC guidelines and asked restaurants and other businesses to operate via pickup, delivery or drive-thru service if possible.
"The CDC and Arkansas Department of Health have made clear that this is an important practice to getting us through this period without bearing the worst of this illness, as other communities are," Perrin said. "If someone contracts this disease, they won't know it for a while. And they have a dangerous chance of spreading it to a loved one who is elderly or immune-deficient."
Monitoring stations were set up at the city's Municipal Center, with employees and visitors required to submit to fever checks. Similar stations were set up for police officers and public works employees.
"We don't want city employees coming to work sick, both because we don't want to endanger them but also we don't want an illness to spread to coworkers and the public," Perrin said.
City officials in Pine Bluff had not instituted a curfew in the city by Monday afternoon and had no plans to do so. Mayor Shirley Washington said she had discussed it earlier in the day with some members of the City Council. While it may be an option at a later time, she said she didn't believe there was an apparent need for for a curfew in the short term.
"There are very few people out on the streets here in Pine Bluff, very few," Washington said. "Cars are down to almost nothing. Last night, I was out until about 8 p.m. and saw very few cars out. So, we don't know that there is actually a need to do that at this time."
Information for this article was contributed by Dale Ellis and Thomas Saccente of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 03/17/2020