Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson on coronavirus response: Residents taking 'this so seriously' is keeping numbers down
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Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson defended his decision not to issue a statewide order to stay at home amid the coronavirus pandemic saying on “America’s News HQ Weekend” that the state has been able to keep the number of cases down because the residents have been “taking this so seriously.”
“We are taking it very seriously and the public really has engaged in terms of wearing masks, social distancing and so that allowed us to have a targeted response to this,” Hutchinson said on Sunday. “We've kept our numbers down, the growth rate has slowed so we’re having some success here, but it's really because of the people taking this so seriously.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK STATE BY STATE
As of Sunday, Arkansas reported 1,226 positive coronavirus cases and 24 deaths, according to data compiled by Fox News.
“We worked hard with this targeted response to be able to have some of the economy continue to go, but it has to be done with the protective measures,” Hutchinson said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}When host Leland Vittert asked Hutchinson what he has kept open and what he hasn’t he said, “We’ve closed the schools for the rest of the year ... We have closed the bars, restaurants, the gymnasiums, the barbershops, the salons, all the person-to-person contact.”
Hutchinson added that the state parks have been closed as well “because they were an attraction to out-of-state visitors.”
He went on to say that “whenever we see more that needs to be done, we take that step, but the key again is we set the example for masks, wearing those, social distancing, so we can keep some of the essential services and other businesses that are open with those protective measures.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“If we need to do more, we will, but the success is because of those efforts and we see our numbers flat, we only have 80 hospitalized at this time. If we have to do more, we will,” he continued.
On Sunday, Hutchinson also addressed the staggering unemployment numbers because of the coronavirus outbreak and the measures implemented to slow the spread. For the week ending April 4 seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims reached 6.6 million nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Arkansas’ unemployment claims were at a record 60,992 for the same time period, FOX 24 reported.
“From a financial standpoint, we can handle this in the short-term,” Hutchinson said. “We have a big reserve that is built up and the federal assistance is going to be good for those that are in need, but yes it does overwhelm the system.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“We have never seen numbers like this for unemployment claims,” he noted.
Hutchinson also mentioned that the state has to “build a new system to distribute the federal dollars for those that are self-employed.”
“So these are big system challenges and then you have to have your offices open, you have to have people available to process these claims, we’re meeting that challenge and we have to put a lot of resources to it,” he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hutchinson said another challenge for the state is the risk of severe weather. On Sunday, the National Weather Service announced a tornado watch has been issued for Southeast Arkansas.
“We are concerned, in fact, last week Jonesboro got hit with a tornado that had about four miles of [a] destructive path and so anytime we’re in season you have to worry about it,” Hutchinson said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Notwithstanding that, our folks are resilient, they understand adversity, but it is incredible to have to handle the virus and then other potential threats at the same time,” he added.
Fox News’ Leland Vittert contributed to this report.