The COVID-19 public health emergency will be extended for another 45 days, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced on Tuesday, May 5.
Hutchinson told reporters that he has signed an executive order, extending the public health emergency period for another 45 days. He signed the original executive order declaring an emergency on March 11, and this order was set to expire on May 21.
“What this means is that we are not yet finished with our work. We still have an emergency situation in Arkansas and across our nation that everyone is familiar with,” he said.
According to Hutchinson, he was authorized to extend the emergency period to 60 days.
Extending the emergency period to 45 days will provide a “measuring point” for COVID-19 progress, Hutchinson said. “I think that [45 days later] will be a good time to reflect on where we are and whether we have to have any further extensions of the emergency order. Obviously, we hope not. We’d like to get back to normal,” he said.
The extension of the public health emergency comes as Arkansas and states across the country are beginning the process of reopening the economy. On April 17, Hutchinson announced that May 4 was the target date for reopening the economy.
Many businesses are beginning to return to work with more receiving permission to reopen with restrictions in the coming weeks. Barber shops, beauty salons, tattoo parlors and other services will be allowed to reopen with restrictions on May 6. Meanwhile, restaurants will be allowed to reopen limited dine-in services on May 11.
The World Health Organization (WHO) first declared COVID-19 as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on Jan. 30, 2020 and announced that it was a worldwide pandemic on March 11.
“WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom said in a statement. We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus. And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled, at the same time.”
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