Despite warnings from top federal public health officials, Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday stuck by his goal of having schools across the state reopen to in-classroom instruction later this month.
At his daily news conference on the pandemic, the Republican governor noted that he delayed the start of the school year from Aug. 13 to the week of Aug. 24.
The extra time will allow Arkansas to learn from states that start earlier, as well as "from experiences that we see in the sports world," Hutchinson said. "It gives us an opportunity to better prepare in every respect," Hutchinson said. "So we're going to utilize this time effectively over the next three weeks, because we want everybody to be able to go back to in-classroom instruction in a safe way that best protects the students, gives them an opportunity to learn, as well as the teachers and the staff.
"That's our objective, and we're working on that, as I said, every day."
Hutchinson spoke as the state's cumulative count of coronavirus cases increased by 784, to 45,381. Of those, 6,891 are considered active.
The state's death toll from the pandemic, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, increased by 15, to 490.
