The easing of restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Arkansas continued Tuesday as Gov. Asa Hutchinson lifted his ban on out-of-state recreational travelers staying in Arkansas hotels and overnight in state parks.
But in an executive order, Hutchinson also extended the public health emergency that he declared March 11 by an additional 45 days.
"What this means is that we're not yet finished with our work," he said. "We still have an emergency situation in Arkansas and across our nation that everyone is familiar with."
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He said his order from March would have otherwise expired May 21. He also said he could have extended it up to 60 days.
The end of the 45-day extension "will be a good time to reflect on where we are and whether we have to have any further extensions of the emergency order," he said.
Arkansas Code 12-75-114 gives the governor a number of powers during an emergency, including the authority to issue executive orders, proclamations and rules that have the force of law and the ability to suspend rules that would interfere with the response to the emergency.
The new order came as the state's deaths from the virus rose by three, to 83, and the number of cases in the state's official tally increased by 56, to 3,525.
The increase didn't fully reflect a sharp rise in cases at the federal prison in Forrest City.
Health Department Secretary Nate Smith said the number of cases among inmates there had increased by 94, to 264. The federal prison has about 3,000 inmates in the complex, which has low- and medium-security units.
Most of those new test results had not yet been entered into a state database as of Tuesday and so weren't reflected in the official count of the state's cases.
Hutchinson said the increase at the federal prison was the result of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal Bureau of Prisons "going in there and finally doing the testing that we'd like to have seen done before, in particular of the staff."
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He said the Health Department has been advising the federal government, which has jurisdiction over the investigation, about the need for more testing.
"I'm delighted that they are taking this initiative," he said.
The CDC and Bureau of Prisons didn't respond to requests for comment from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Tuesday.
Statewide, the number of patients who were hospitalized with covid-19 fell Tuesday by two, to 89. Sixteen of the patients were on ventilators, a number that hadn't changed from a day earlier.
LODGING RESTRICTIONS
Out-of-state residents traveling for recreational purposes had been banned from staying in Arkansas hotels and motels since April 4 in an attempt to reduce coronavirus infections in the state.
All camping was banned in Arkansas state parks until last Friday, when Arkansas residents were once again allowed to stay overnight in recreational vehicles. Such camping was still prohibited for out-of-state residents, however.
Hutchinson said Tuesday that the restrictions will remain in place for people traveling from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and New Orleans, where the virus is more prevalent, or from overseas.
The Health Department has recommended that travelers from those areas quarantine themselves for 14 days after arriving in Arkansas.
But travelers from other areas are now allowed to stay overnight in Arkansas hotels and in recreational vehicles in state parks, Hutchinson said.
Out-of-state travelers will also be allowed to stay in park cabins and lodges when those reopen for guests on May 15, Hutchinson said.
The state's plans had previously called for lodging in those facilities to reopen only to Arkansas residents.
"The objective that we're trying to accomplish is to allow our hotels and lodges to extend occupancy to those who may come to Arkansas from our neighboring states," Hutchinson said.
"We have by tradition, particularly this time of year, our guests that come from surrounding states, and many of those have low numbers [of coronavirus cases].
"They're not accelerating. They're not hot spots, and that's a very important part of their life in terms of being able to visit Arkansas."
He said Smith can change the list of states or cities from which lodging for travelers will remain restricted.
"I'm hopeful that if our nation stays on the right trajectory, that we'll be taking places off of [the list of] hot spots versus adding them," Hutchinson said.
Department Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Stacy Hurst said the removal of the restriction will be "welcome news for the hotel and lodging industry," which she said has "been particularly hard hit by the covid-19 pandemic."
"As an industry, they have strong protocols in place to follow to protect guests as well as their staff," she said. "They've been incredibly cooperative throughout this public health emergency."
The National Park Service also announced Tuesday that the Buffalo National River will reopen May 15 to private and commercial floating.
All trails, except the Lost Valley Trail, within the national park will also reopen, but the campgrounds and visitors center will remain closed.
"It makes sense to have limited access at this point to the national park," Hutchinson said in a statement in response to the announcement. "A phased-in approach is best, and the Park Service can measure whether social distancing protocols are followed."
Smith said the Health Department also will adjust its regulations on fitness clubs this week to allow people to swim laps and is working on guidelines for recreational swimming.
"Being outside and swimming, these are all good activities if we can do them in a way that does not facilitate the spread of covid-19," Smith said.
DENTISTS WEIGH IN
Under Arkansas' first phase of relaxed restrictions on social interaction, gyms reopened Monday; hair salons, barbershops and other businesses involving contact between customers and employees are set to reopen today; and restaurants will be allowed to reopen their dining rooms next Monday.
In guidelines issued Friday, the Health Department said some types of non-urgent dental procedures, which have been prohibited since March 23, would be allowed to resume May 18.
During a conference call meeting Tuesday of an advisory group formed by Smith to make recommendations on the resumption of dental procedures, representatives of the Arkansas Dental Association pushed for an earlier start date.
"I think the biggest concern is everybody's ready to move forward," Little Rock dentist Ernie Woodward said. "Our patients are ready to get back. We're getting phone calls daily.
"I think the time frame of getting started is now with the understanding that our start back is not going to be different and our concerns and risk factors that we're going to deal with daily aren't going to change if we start today versus starting May 18 or June 18."
But representatives of the Arkansas State Dental Hygiene Association said they support the May 18 start date.
Bridget Fitzhugh, a member of the association, said the later start date would allow more time for clinics to establish safety protocols and make sure they have the necessary protective equipment.
Messages "across the board" from hygienists in the state have been in support of the May 18 start date, association President Jennifer Stain said.
"Most hygienists just want to make sure that they're going to be able to go to work and work safely to protect their families at home," she said.
R. Pierce Osborne II, president of the dental association, said he didn't oppose a later start date for hygienists, but that other dental work should be allowed to start sooner.
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For instance, he said his clinic isn't planning on bringing his hygienists back to work right away anyway, and Woodward's clinic, which focuses on dental surgery, doesn't employ hygienists.
"If they don't want to start until the 18th, we think they should be able to do that," he said.
Smith said he would relay the feedback to Hutchinson.
CAPITOL STILL CLOSED
Hutchinson said he hopes Secretary of State John Thurston can move in the direction of reopening the state Capitol in the future.
Thurston, whose office is in charge of maintaining and securing the Capitol, closed the building to the public, effective March 13, in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
"It should be noted that under Phase 1, telecommuting is still encouraged for those who can do it, and so I think it's understandable while we are in Phase 1 that if they can do it by telecommuting, that's a good option for them," Hutchinson said. "But if they are more effective working in the Capitol as I am and some of my staff, the Capitol should be open to them. So I know that will be evaluated as we get closer to a Phase 2 position."
Thurston spokesman Kevin Niehaus said the secretary of state's office has not made a decision as to when the Capitol will reopen.
"We are closely monitoring the situation and will reopen when we feel that it's safe to do so," he said.
LATEST DEATHS
The latest deaths added to the state's death toll were in Jefferson, Lincoln and Pulaski counties. That brought the death toll to 19 in Jefferson County, five in Lincoln County and 21 in Pulaski County.
According to the Health Department, the deaths of five inmates at the Cummins Unit in Lincoln County have been linked to covid-19.
The number of inmates who had tested positive there increased Tuesday by three, to 876.
Smith said those results came after the Health Department retested the inmates in two barracks after one or more inmates who had tested negative previously began having symptoms.
State officials also said an inmate at the prison who had been hospitalized with covid-19 had been transferred to a hospital bed at another state prison near Malvern.
After the transfer, the Health Department recorded the unidentified patient as a positive case at the Special Needs Unit, which includes a hospital facility for prisoners that is a part of the 1,782-bed Ouachita River Unit.
Solomon Graves, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said the inmate is being housed in a solitary room at the Special Needs Unit, which Graves described as a separate facility with a separate staff and inmate population than the surrounding prison unit.
"Inmates who need a particular level of care once they are released from an outside hospital, that's where they go," Graves said.
Graves declined to say what outside hospital the inmate had been treated at or when the inmate was discharged.
A Health Department report also listed a resident at The Villages of General Baptist West in Pine Bluff as among the state's most recent deaths.
That brought the total number of virus deaths among the state's nursing home residents to 32.
Two other residents and two workers at the Pine Bluff home have also tested positive, according to the Health Department.
Meanwhile, the Washington County coroner said a 94-year-old man on Monday night became the county's fourth resident to die of the coronavirus.
Coroner Roger Morris said the man was a resident at an assisted living facility and died at the veterans hospital, both in Fayetteville, Morris said.
Information for this article was contributed by John Moritz and Michael R. Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and by Alex Golden of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 05/06/2020