Arkansas will begin allowing larger indoor and outdoor venues to reopen for the public over the next two weeks, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Monday as state health officials reported an increase of 27 covid-19 cases over the previous 24 hours.
The pair of new directives announced by the governor are the final ones to be included under his “phase one” reopening plan, and apply to venues such as sports arenas, fairgrounds, movie theaters, museums and bowling alleys. If their operators choose to reopen, those venues will be limited to audiences of 50 or fewer people with other restrictions in place.
Hutchinson said outdoor venues can open effective immediately on Monday if they abide by the restrictions, while indoor venues can begin reopening on May 18.
With the increase of 27 cases on Monday, the Arkansas Department of Health reported that a total of 3,458 people in the state have been infected by the virus. Of those, 80 have died, an increase of five since the previous day.
With other restrictions on businesses such as restaurants, hair and nail salons and gyms set to lift in the coming weeks, Hutchinson said he expected to see some spikes in new cases. The decision on whether to move on to “phase two” of the reopening plan will depend on whether the rolling average number of daily new cases begins to rise over the next two weeks, he said.
“You can hardly get lower in terms of new cases than what we have right now,” Hutchinson said.
By limiting the number of people in larger venues, Health Secretary Nate Smith said it will be easier to conduct contract tracing in the event an outbreak does occur.
10:27 a.m.: Gov, state health officials to give 1:30 p.m. update
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state health officials will provide an update on the state’s covid-19 response at 1:30 p.m. Check back to watch the live video.
[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH_iS6O0lHI]
CORRECTION: The total covid-19 deaths as of Monday evening was 80. Due to incorrect information from the Department of Health, this story and its headline previously listed an incorrect total of covid-19 deaths as of Monday evening.