Arkansas drops COVID-19 directives, erasing months of progress in an instant

It has been a tough year, but the pandemic is much better because of the mask requirements implemented by Gov. Hutchinson in summer 2020. He provided the cover for our schools, municipalities, counties, and businesses to require masks for the safety of all Arkansans. Within hours of the Governor’s mask requirements, my local City Council of Conway passed their own requirement. Real conversations with school administrators about masks started when the Governor acted for the safety of Arkansas students. The Governor set expectations on masks and eventually the state followed.

For some it took longer. My local Conway Police Department only recently stopped posting group photos of officers without masks. They grew to understand their responsibility to lead on masks and set good examples for students wearing them all day, every day. Others in our community learned to wear masks the hard way after there was an outbreak or death in their house of worship, family gathering, school, or workplace. Private business took on the public education and outreach to encourage and eventually require mask use. The mask safety culture protected me personally after a masked worker performed maintenance activities in my home carrying the virus.

Since then, our Conway community has come together to vaccinate educators. On Friday, February 26, all Conway Public Schools staff who wanted the vaccine received their second dose. So many leaders and businesses collaborated to keep our community safe. Other leaders are helping those over 65 navigate the confusing online myChart signup and raising concerns about groups who may not be able to sign up online or get transportation. … All of that hard work is likely erased when Gov. Asa Hutchinson repealed almost all of the COVID-19 safety directives The Governor said, “We will not see a change in behavior.” We are ALREADY seeing a change in behavior. Within hours, some restaurants were back at 100% capacity with pictures on social media. Many are taking this as a signal that the pandemic is over.