At today’s statewide COVID-19 briefing, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Johnny Key, the state’s education secretary, both reaffirmed Aug. 24 as the date for schools to open around Arkansas despite opposition expressed by some groups such as the Arkansas Public Policy Panel and the state’s chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
At the briefing, (which you can watch below) the state’s health director, Jose Romero, showcased a video featuring various health professionals across the country endorsing the idea of sending children back to school amid the pandemic.
As of Tuesday morning, Arkansas has reported 728 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, while 11 more people in the state have died from the illness caused by the virus. Over 25,600 recoveries have been reported.
At least 34,655 people in the state have tested positive for the virus, according to the state health department.
The department said 6,998 of those cases are active, meaning they don’t include people who have died or recovered.
The number of deaths from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, rose to 374. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 rose by 17 to 488.
Information from the Associated Press was utilized for this story.
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