This week Governor Asa Hutchinson made several announcements regarding the state's plan in responding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With regard to vaccinations, the governor expanded the 1-B category of eligible for vaccines to all people age 65-70 and offered optimism for soon making remaining 1-B individuals, including food and agriculture workers, eligible very soon as vaccine supplies reach sufficient levels. In addition, due to continued declines in cases and hospitalizations, the governor also announced that he will extend the emergency through March and immediately make the public health directives on businesses become public health guidance. However, the governor did state plans to maintain the mask mandates in order to minimize transmission, which continues to spread throughout Arkansas
So far to date, over 315,000 Arkansans have tested positive for the virus, and over 578,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Arkansas.
More below:
https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/gov-hutchinson-says-mask-mandate-could-end-march-31/