At his weekly news briefing on Friday, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced the new numbers for COVID-19 as of Friday with Arkansas surpassing over 100k active cases in the state. This means over 3 percent of the population is currently an active case and hospitalizations have increased to a new record of 1,658.
“With where we are right now in this pandemic, and with the Omicron variant we do believe we are managing our way through it,” Hutchinson said. “We are responding to the needs that are out there and we are hopeful we will see the cases go down.”
The Governor gave an update on hospital expansion from the approved $50 million dollars, saying that beds have been opened in hospitals that have received money to increase capacity for the surging cases.
Hutchinson presented the at-home test map that shows where the 1.5 million tests were distributed, adding there are still about 370,000 tests available at local health units, with libraries having a supply as well. Hutchinson stated the tests should help alleviate testing demands while waiting for federal tests to be delivered.
Greg Crain, vice president of the Arkansas Baptist Health Centers, spoke during the briefing and applauded the work of health care workers dealing with the Covid-19 surges. He gave thanks to the decision from Governor Hutchinson, the Department of Health and Legislators to expand beds for hospitals around the state including Baptist Health hospitals. He said without this expansion, the Arkansas health care infrastructure would be in deep trouble.
Dr. Romero, Secretary of Arkansas Department of Health, spoke about the impact the Omicron variant has had on the state, noting that while hospitalizations reflect how Omicron is less severe on an individual level, the Omicron breakout is still very severe on a societal level and still poses a threat to our health care system.
