Despite a recent uptick in cases, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday that he doesn't see any "reasonable potential" that the state will reverse course from its first phase of lifting restrictions that were imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
But he said he'll be watching measures such as hospitalizations, the percentage of tests that are positive and the state's testing capacity as he decides whether the state is ready to move to the next phase of eased restrictions.
"Obviously you can envision some theoretical opportunity in the future that there's an outbreak that is all over the state that you've got to retrench and do something different and tighten it up more, but with the information I have, the trajectory that we're going, with the confidence level that we have, I don't expect anything like that to happen," Hutchinson said.
"I expect us to stay in Phase One and not retreating from where we are right now."
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Arkansas' official count of coronavirus cases rose by 97 on Friday, including 79 cases among people who are not prison inmates.
That followed a record increase of 113 noninmate cases on Thursday and 100 such cases that added to the state's total on Tuesday.
The state's overall count of cases rose to 4,463 on Friday, while the death toll remained at 98, with no new deaths reported.
At Hutchinson's daily news conference on the coronavirus, Department of Health Secretary Nate Smith announced that 70 of the state's local health units -- all the ones that remain open during the pandemic -- will begin offering testing to the public on Monday.
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Those tests will be available not only to people with symptoms or exposure to someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus, but also to anyone who lives in an area where the virus is spreading among members of the community, Smith said.
"If they've been in an area where there's active transmission of covid-19, even if they have no symptoms, we'd like them to come in and get tested," he said.
DENTISTS DERIDE RULES
Also on Friday, the Arkansas State Dental Association announced on its website that one of its attorneys had sent a letter to Hutchinson complaining about "ill-conceived, badly implemented, and illegal restrictions" imposed on dentists by the Health Department as certain non-urgent dental procedures were allowed to resume Monday.
"While we applaud the spirit behind Secretary Smith's efforts, the manner in which the state bureaucracy has implemented these efforts has been an unmitigated disaster -- one that has already led to needless confusion, frustration, and harm," the attorney, Jenny Holt Teeter of Gill Ragon Owen in Little Rock, said in the letter, dated Thursday.
For instance, she cited a requirement that dentists make the personal protective equipment available to staff members, which she described as a "vague requirement in the face of notorious shortages of PPE."
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She also complained that the state Board of Dental Examiners said in an email that it had received reports that some dentists were "over-scheduling," a term that she said wasn't defined, and she questioned the authority of the Health Department to enforce its rules.
"Like all health care providers, Arkansas dentists take COVID-19 seriously and are complying with every recommended measure to ensure patient and staff safety," Pierce Osborne, president of the dental association, said Friday in a statement.
"Unfortunately, we continue to receive conflicting and impractical requirements, which are far out of proportion of other states."
Rules allowing the resumption of non-urgent dental procedures were originally scheduled to take effect on Monday of next week, but the date was pushed up to Monday of this week at the urging of the dental association.
"I am not sure why the Dental Association employed legal counsel to write such a harsh letter as the first communication to my office on any issues of concern," Hutchinson said in his own statement.
He said the matter would be discussed Monday at a meeting of a Health Department dental advisory group that includes the association.
CASINO PLAN APPROVED
Arkansas' first phase of relaxed restrictions on businesses and social interaction has included allowing hair salons, barbershops and other businesses involving hands-on service to reopen last week; restaurants to offer dine-in service this week; and entertainment venues such as concert halls and movie theaters to open Monday.
All three of Arkansas' casinos are set to reopen on Monday after the Health Department on Friday approved a plan submitted for Saracen Casino Annex in Pine Bluff.
"Last week we provided the state with an extensive operational plan, focusing on guest and team member safety," John Berrey, chairman of Saracen Development and Quapaw Nation, said in a statement.
"Today we received notification from the Arkansas Department of Health that our COVID-19 protocols were approved."
He said those protocols include "reduced capacity, limited hours, masks required, an emphasis on social distancing and a whole host of other new procedures."
The Health Department on Wednesday approved the plans submitted by Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Hot Springs and Southland Casino Racing in West Memphis.
CABINS BOOKED
Cabins and lodges at state parks reopened for rental Friday.
At his news conference, Hutchinson displayed a chart showing that the occupancy rate for the state's "Top 5 Cabin Parks" for this weekend through the end of May ranged from about 68% at Devil's Den State Park to 41% at Moro Bay State Park.
Most of the reservations were made by Arkansas residents, with 29% from people in other states.
"It illustrates that tourism is the second-leading industry in Arkansas, and there's so many of our small businesses that are dependent upon this kind of commercial activity," Hutchinson said.
Department of Parks, Tourism and Heritage Secretary Stacy Hurst said the occupancy rates are "not totally dissimilar from where they were in 2019."
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"We're optimistic this will be a very good May for us," she said.
She also announced the reopening of areas of Pinnacle Mountain State Park, including the summit trails.
"Everyone should know that parking will be limited to the designated parking lots within the state park and our uniformed park officers will be enforcing a safe physical distance for our guests," she said.
She also said the craft village at the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View will reopen Tuesday.
Camping at state parks remains limited to cabins, lodges and self-contained recreational vehicles.
Hurst also said Arkansas had been awarded almost $500,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts to make covid-19 relief grants of $5,000 to $15,000 to nonprofit arts organizations.
The money can be used for expenses such as staff salaries, facility costs and programs that follow social-distancing protocols, according to the Arkansas Arts Council's website.
NEW CASES REPORTED
Of the 79 noninmate cases that were added to the state's total, the largest number, 11 as in Jefferson County.
That was followed by Crittenden County with 10; Pope County with nine; Pulaski County with seven; and St. Francis County with six.
Smith said the Pope County cases were linked to a substance-abuse treatment facility, which he didn't name.
An employee at the Jonesboro Human Development Center, which houses people with severe developmental disabilities, was also among those testing positive.
Human Services Department spokesman Amy Webb said in an email that the employee was still in training and was tested on Tuesday "when the employee took someone for medical assistance."
The employee didn't have symptoms but was "tested per procedure at that medical facility," Webb said.
She said the department learned of the test result on Wednesday.
"We've done sanitizing and Health completed contact tracing," Webb said. "Individuals who may have been exposed have been tested and we are awaiting results."
Two employees at one of the state's other human development centers, in Arkadelphia, tested positive last month.
A Health Department report also indicated that six recent cases were associated with the South Arkansas Developmental Center for Children and Families in El Dorado.
According to the website for the United Way of Union County, the center provides services for more than 225 children and 85 adults with developmental disabilities.
A phone message left at the center wasn't returned Friday.
"There are 4 positive residents in 1 facility and 2 positive residents in another," Health Department spokesman Danyelle McNeill said in an email. "They also have 2 positive employees."
INMATE CASES GROW
At the Randall L. Williams Unit in Pine Bluff, the number of inmates who have tested positive increased to 54, according to the Health Department.
That was up from 45 that the Department of Corrections had reported Wednesday.
The Health Department also reported that the number of cases among staff members had increased from two to eight.
No new cases were reported at the Cummins Unit in Lincoln County, where at least 900 inmates and 60 staff members have tested positive, or the Federal Correctional Complex in Forrest City, where the virus has infected at least 335 inmates and 17 staff members.
Statewide, the number of cases that were considered active, meaning the person had tested positive and had not died or recovered, rose by 47, to 975.
Active cases increased by one, to 102, among nursing-home residents, and by 17, to 322 among prison inmates.
Cases among nursing-home residents and inmates often don't show up in the state's tally of statewide cases until several days after they are announced, after information from laboratory reports are entered into a database.
Among other Arkansans, the number of active cases rose by 29, to 551.
The number of patients who were hospitalized fell by four, to 65, while the number on ventilators fell by one, to nine.
RELEASES APPROVED
The state has released 359 inmates under a directive issued by Hutchinson last month to begin clearing space in prisons by expediting parole consideration for inmates serving time for nonviolent and nonsexual crimes.
Solomon Graves, the chief of staff for Corrections Secretary Wendy Kelley, told lawmakers Friday that 800 inmates identified by the governor's directive have been approved for release by the Parole Board.
The number of those who have actually been released is smaller, because inmates approved for parole must still complete any outstanding program requirements and have an approved parole plan.
Before being released, Graves said all inmates are being screened for common coronavirus symptoms. Those who show symptoms may be required to take a test, Graves said, and are not being released on parole until they test negative.
Information for this article was contributed by John Moritz of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 05/16/2020