In his weekly update, Governor Hutchinson announced the anticipated lifting of the statewide mask mandate effective today. The governor stated the criteria set earlier in the year had been met.
The governor did state that many restaurants, healthcare facilities, government buildings and schools may still require the wearing of mask and ask for people to respect the individual decisions of these facilities.
During the briefing he gave daily Covid update stating there were 178 new cases and an additional 15 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. The state currently has 1,717 active cases with 170 currently hospitalized and 25 on ventilators.
The governor announced that the vaccinations are now open to those ages 16 and up. This opens the vaccine to all residents age 16 and up.