Mask policies in state adapting to CDC guidance

Arkansas Health Secretary Dr. Jose Romero addresses a press conference at the state Capitol in Little Rock as Gov. Asa Hutchinson watches in this Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, file photo. Romero urged Arkansans to get vaccinated, and he also recommended wearing masks and practicing social distancing, even though the mandates on those two practices were becoming guidelines at the time. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)
Arkansas Health Secretary Dr. Jose Romero addresses a press conference at the state Capitol in Little Rock as Gov. Asa Hutchinson watches in this Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, file photo. Romero urged Arkansans to get vaccinated, and he also recommended wearing masks and practicing social distancing, even though the mandates on those two practices were becoming guidelines at the time. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)

More mask mandates began falling in Arkansas on Friday, a day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance saying fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear the coverings in most public places.

Bentonville-based Walmart, which has more than 100 stores in the state, said in a memo to employees that it no longer would require customers and employees who are fully vaccinated to wear masks.

Little Rock will drop its mask requirement starting today, Mayor Frank Scott Jr. said.

Some mandates remained in place, however, with Kroger, Target and Home Depot among retailers who said they would continue requiring customers and employees to wear masks.

The developments occurred as Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases rose Friday by 250, the second daily increase in a row that was larger than the one a day earlier.

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After rising a day earlier, the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 fell by four, to 172.

The death toll from the virus, as tracked by the state Health Department, rose by seven, to 5,790.

Citing growing evidence on the effectiveness of vaccines, the CDC said Thursday that people who have been fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks or practice social distancing in most indoor and outdoor settings.

Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner, Sam's Club CEO Kath McLay and Cheryl Pegus, executive vice president of health and wellness, said in the company's memo that Walmart still would require masks to be worn by unvaccinated employees, and it will request that they be worn by unvaccinated customers.

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"Some associates may choose to continue to wear masks, and as part of our value of respect for the individual, we should all support their right to do so," the executives said in the memo.

The retailer said that it would continue requiring masks where mandated by cities and states. It also announced that it will offer $75 bonuses to employees who have been fully vaccinated.

Cincinnati-based Kroger, which has more than 30 grocery stores in Arkansas, said it would continue requiring customers and employees to wear masks, while also offering $100 bonuses to employees who get vaccinated.

"As we have throughout the pandemic, we are reviewing current safety practices, the CDC's latest guidance, and soliciting feedback from associates to guide the next phase of our policy," the company said in a statement.

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CITY MANDATES

Little Rock, Fayetteville and Rogers were among cities that kept their own mask requirements after Gov. Asa Hutchinson rescinded his statewide mask mandate at the end of March.

In lifting Little Rock's requirement, Scott cited the CDC guidance as well as a state law that will prohibit state and local mask mandates when it takes effect in late July.

"Effective Saturday, May 15, 2021, the City of Little Rock is no longer requiring face coverings be worn," the mayor said in a statement.

"However, private entities, hospitals and other healthcare facilities, non-profits, and places of worship may require their patrons and employees to wear masks or other face coverings to protect themselves and their customers.

"People entering City of Little Rock facilities, with the exception of our parks and other outdoor spaces, will still be required to wear a face covering, and we strongly encourage residents to continue wearing face coverings in public until we reach the desired vaccination rate in our city, as outlined by healthcare professionals."

Marti Sharkey, Fayetteville's public health officer, said her city's Board of Health voted at an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to recommend the city's ordinance be modified so that it no longer requires people who are fully vaccinated to wear masks.

The recommendation will go to the City Council at its next meeting, on Tuesday, she said.

"We really encourage everybody to become fully vaccinated, and if you are not fully vaccinated, you continue to wear a mask," Sharkey said.

In Rogers, Mayor Greg Hines said he has drafted an ordinance for the May 25 City Council meeting to rescind the mask requirement it passed in July.

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"It will go into effect at 3:34 p.m. May 27 -- when the last bell rings at Rogers High School," Hines said, adding that he and the City Council were determined to stand in solidarity with the Rogers School District to help it end the school year strong.

"When the State of Arkansas mask mandate was lifted, the vaccine was not available to every citizen, like it is now," Hines said. (Arkansans age 12 and up can be vaccinated as of this week.)

He cautioned that, while the lifting of the mask mandate is encouraging news, people should not read too much into it.

He said he'll also present the council with a resolution to continue encouraging residents to follow the protective guidelines.

"The percentage of vaccinated people in Arkansas ain't that great," Hines said. "I'm cautiously optimistic about this."

Shara Brazear, a spokeswoman for North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick, said masks are not required in North Little Rock with the exception of city buildings.

Conway ended its mask mandate when Hutchinson ended the statewide mandate.

"We don't have any rules forcing the people of Conway to wear masks at this time," said Bobby Kelly, city spokesman. "However, we're leaving it up to private businesses and event organizers to decide whether or not a mask policy is best for them."

Pope County's mask requirement was lifted at the same time as the statewide one, County Judge Ben Cross said.

"Individual proprietors may mandate masks on their private property, but I know of no one enforcing such a requirement," he said. "As soon as Gov. Hutchinson removed the statewide mandate in March, we likewise removed such restrictions on county-owned facilities."

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At county offices, Cross said barriers are still in place to limit the contact between employees and patrons.

Once the vaccine became available to essential employees in February, all county employees were given the opportunity to get the shot, he said.

"Personal choice is a foundation of our life and those who opted out of vaccination can still reliably take precautionary measures to limit their individual exposure by continued use of a mask, frequent hand washing, and sanitization of their work space," Cross said.

In Little Rock, Mark Abernathy said he would lift the requirement for employees and customers to wear masks at his two restaurants, Loca Luna and Red Door, today in light of the lifting of the city mandate.

"Our rule has always been, we are going to follow the guidelines of science and the CDC, not politics," he said.

He said almost all of his 70 employees have been fully vaccinated, including many who got their shots at clinics that Little Rock drugstore chain Express Rx held at the restaurants.

Previously, he said customers had been required to wear masks when they weren't at their tables. Employees who aren't vaccinated were required to wear masks at all times, and those who are vaccinated were required to wear them when customers were present.

SCHOOL POLICIES

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville "will be assessing this new [CDC] guidance moving forward," said Mark Rushing, a university spokesman, in an email.

Mask wearing is required indoors on the Fayetteville campus with limited exceptions, he said.

Chris Goering, a professor of English education, said he'll be teaching a face-to-face course for graduate students later this month with perhaps 10 in attendance and another five tuning in remotely.

"I don't think I personally would feel uncomfortable," Goering said about possible protocol changes affecting the course environment.

"But whether or not I personally feel comfortable is a much smaller consideration to me than whether all of the students feel like they are safe."

The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith on Monday sent a message to campus stating, in part, that while those preferring to wear masks are encouraged to keep doing so, "no employer or professor is allowed to mandate them," with a few exceptions relating to personal protective equipment "already necessary for work, instructional and/or lab safety," such as in a welding laboratory.

It referred to Act 1002, the law passed during this year's session that will prohibit state and local government mask mandates.

Southern Arkansas University ended its general campus masking requirement on May 1, said Donna Allen, the university's vice president for student affairs.

Face coverings must be worn in science lab settings on the Magnolia campus, Allen said, adding that signs outside individual offices may be posted to indicate a face covering requirement.

Most large public universities have not made major changes to campus covid-19 safety protocols, however.

As with UA, a spokeswoman with the University of Central Arkansas in Conway said the latest CDC guidance has not spurred immediate change, so face coverings are required in enclosed spaces and elsewhere when physical distancing isn't possible.

"Arkansas State University System board policy regarding masks will remain in effect until trustees consider changes" at a June meeting, spokesman Jeff Hankins said in an email.

The ASU System board policy states that masks are required in settings where physical distancing cannot be maintained.

Campuses within the UA System will adjust covid-19 protocols without necessarily having a new resolution or policy from the UA board of trustees, said Nate Hinkel, a spokesman for the system.

The UA System board in June approved a resolution calling for campuses to "at a minimum, require the use of cloth face coverings" in facilities where there could not be 6 feet of distancing, but Hinkel noted that the full resolution also stated that campuses should be guided by health guidelines that have evolved.

"As we move toward the summer and fall, we expect campuses to continue updating their COVID-19 guidelines that are consistent with public health guidance and with state law, including Act 1002. At this time, we do not believe further Board action is necessary on this issue," Hinkel said in an email.

Harding University, the state's largest private university, for its summer sessions has opted to make masks optional, according to its website.

"Masks will not be required in classrooms if 6 feet of spacing can be maintained. However, some locations and activities, by their nature, may require masks to be worn," states the website for the Searcy campus. Unvaccinated students can request others to wear masks if distancing isn't possible or "request a virtual option," the Harding website states.

Among some of the larger public school districts still requiring masks that responded to the Democrat-Gazette, the Pulaski County Special School District plans to keep masks for the rest of the school year, a spokeswoman said Friday.

The Little Rock School District mask policy remains in place until July, a spokeswoman said Friday, and a spokesman for the North Little Rock School District also said that mask wearing will continue for the rest of the school year.

REVIEW UNDERWAY

State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said the Health Department is reviewing its safety recommendations for businesses and places of worship in light of the CDC guidance and will "make the appropriate changes."

She said she agrees with the federal agency that fully vaccinated people don't need to wear masks in most settings.

Whether a store or other business should keep mask requirements "would be the choice of the business, especially if they have employees that they're trying to protect," she said.

"Maybe they have some employees that are at increased risk because of their own health problems. Of course, a lot of employers don't know their employees' health problems, so that's just a decision that the employers would have to make."

She said most employees of a business who are fully vaccinated should have confidence that they're protected from the virus, even if an unvaccinated customer isn't wearing a mask.

"If we're able to increase the proportion of people in our communities who are vaccinated, that will become less and less of a problem, so we're hoping that people will be willing to get vaccinated to help protect against all the other people who are not willing to be vaccinated and wear masks," Dillaha said.

She said that she wouldn't recommend elementary and secondary schools make any changes to their mask policies since children ages 12-15 only became eligible for vaccination this week.

VACCINATIONS UP

Sharkey, the Fayetteville public health officer, said the CDC guidance and the clearance of the new age group to receive the Pfizer vaccine appeared to be contributing to increased demand for the shots over the past few days.

At clinics Friday at J.B. Hunt's headquarters in Lowell and Collier Drug Store in Fayetteville, "we saw excellent turnout -- lots of walk-ins, lots of kids 12-15," she said.

According to the Health Department, the number of vaccine doses that had been administered in the state, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, rose Friday by 15,339.

That was more than 2,400 doses above the number reported the previous Friday, making it the first increase in four days that was bigger than the one a week earlier.

It was the largest increase since May 1, when the number rose by 19,536.

"Today's vaccine report shows the highest increase in doses administered in almost two weeks," Hutchinson said in a tweet.

"This is good news as we continue to work toward our goal of 50% of Arkansans vaccinated by the end of July. Check with your local provider to schedule a time to get vaccinated."

Overall, the pace of vaccinations in the state has mostly declined since a peak in early April.

According to the CDC, the number of Arkansans who had received at least one vaccine dose rose Friday by 3,235, to 1,122,780, or about 37.2% of the state population.

The number who had been fully vaccinated rose by 7,532, to 866,686, or 28.7% of the population.

Among the states and District of Columbia, Arkansas fell from 44th to 45th in the percentage of its residents who had received at least one vaccine dose.

It continued to rank 49th, ahead only of Alabama and Mississippi, in the percentage of its residents who were fully vaccinated.

Nationally, 46.8% of people had received at least one vaccine dose, and 36.2% were fully vaccinated.

FEWER ON VENTILATORS

The increase in cases on Friday was larger by 28 than the one a week earlier.

As a result, the average number of cases added in the state each day over a rolling seven-day period rose by about four, to 188.

The number of state virus patients on ventilators fell for the third-straight day, going from 35 as of Thursday to 31.

The number of covid-19 patients in intensive care as of 2 p.m., however, rose by nine, to 83, its highest level since mid-March.

The cases added in the state included 175 that were confirmed through polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests.

The other 75 were "probable" cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests.

The state's cumulative count of cases rose to 338,485.

That comprised 264,720 confirmed cases and 73,765 probable ones.

The number of cases considered active rose by 24, to 2,069, as new cases outpaced recoveries.

Benton County had the most new cases, 36, followed by Pulaski County, which had 35, and Washington County, which had 22.

The Health Department didn't report any new cases among prison and jail inmates.

The state death toll rose by six, to 4,593, among confirmed cases and by one, to 1,197, among probable cases.

Dillaha said all the deaths reported Friday happened within the past month.

Among nursing home and assisted-living facility residents, the state count of virus deaths remained at 2,081.

The number of people who have ever been hospitalized in the state with covid-19 grew by nine, to 16,064.

The number of state virus patients who have ever been on a ventilator rose by three, to 1,642.

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