Arkansas governor to hold fewer virus briefings; state logs 12 new deaths, 398 new cases
LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday announced that he will hold fewer briefings on the state's response to the coronavirus.
Hutchinson has held daily briefings since the pandemic began in March. Beginning next week, he said, the briefings will be held once per week or "as necessary." Hutchinson said daily briefings are no longer necessary because the state has created other public resources for information on the pandemic, such as the expanded Arkansas Department of Health website.
Hutchinson said his administration will still be working to protect public health during the pandemic.
"Just because we're not having a daily update does not mean we're not in an emergency," he said. "We continue to be in an emergency as long as we have the national emergency. As long as we have the case counts that we're having, that emergency continues. And it's not going to diminish my attention to this."
The state reported 398 new cases of the virus after 4,900 tests Thursday. It's the fourth day this week with fewer than 400 new cases. The streak of low numbers, Hutchinson said, can be attributed to people taking the virus more seriously since the school year began, though he and other state officials recently expressed concern over a rise in cases on college campuses. Hutchinson said contact tracing has been effective at limiting the spread of the virus, as well.
"I keep expecting an uptick," Hutchinson said. "I hope everybody keeps disappointing me. I don't want an uptick."
The total number of cases in Arkansas is up to 66,804. Of those cases, 5,196 were considered to be active.
The number of people hospitalized with the virus decreased by 19 to 392.
Twelve new deaths were reported Thursday. A total of 940 have died from the virus.
The state reported 70 positive results from 430 antigen tests. Those are not confirmed cases of the virus but are considered probable. They're reported differently under U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Hutchinson on Thursday reacted to the failure of another federal virus relief bill in the Senate. He said Arkansas needs additional assistance and he hopes lawmakers reach a deal, but he's "skeptical" it will get done before the presidential election.
Nationwide, more than 191,000 people have died from the virus and 6.37 million have been infected.
