Two more people have died of covid-19 in Arkansas, bringing the state’s death toll to 10, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday at a news conference where he also announced new rules for state parks designed to limit visitors from out-of-state and stop the spread of the virus.
Hutchinson said there are 584 positive cases of coronavirus in Arkansas. Of these, 56 people are hospitalized, and 25 are on ventilators.
Eighteen patients are children, 396 are adults under 65 and 170 are adults 65 and older.
Health Secretary Nate Smith said four of the new cases are at nursing homes. Two live at the Villages of General Baptist West, bringing the facility’s total cases to 4, and the other two new positive patients live at Waters of White Hall, bringing that facility’s total to 8.
Hutchinson said the new rules for state parks are designed to limit out-of-state travelers, including from surrounding states with more cases of covid-19 such as Louisiana and Texas.
Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Stacy Hurst said state parks will no longer allow overnight stays starting Friday. Parking will also be limited to available spaces, Hurst said, instead of the parks tolerating overflow into unofficial spots and on the sides of roads.
“Problematic” trails, as Hurst called them, will also be closed. This includes the Cedar Falls trail at Petit Jean State Park and the East and West Summit Trails at Pinnacle Mountain State Park.
Employees at state parks will be empowered to disperse large crowds and enforce the new rules.
Hutchinson has also recommended to the federal Secretary of the Interior that the Buffalo National River be closed. Hutchinson said 60% of its visitors Tuesday were from out-of-state.
Smith said at the news conference that state Health Department labs set a daily record for the agency’s number of tests Tuesday: 147. Combined, UAMS, the state Health Department and commercial labs performed 903 tests Tuesday. A total of 7,124 tests have been performed up to this point, he said.
Testing capability is also expected to expand soon, Hutchinson said, when a partnership between the state, Walmart and Quest Diagnostics for drive-thru testing becomes operational.
The drive-thru testing will be available in Benton County to first responders and health care workers who have reason to believe they may be infected.
Hutchinson said no date for the site’s opening has been finalized but said Walmart expects it to be operational next week.