Mayor of Little Rock announces city will continue mask mandate

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. announced that although the statewide mask mandate will end on March 31, the city will continue to mandate masks citywide and will revisit the mandate in 30 days to “monitor data and recommendations from public health experts.”

Gov. Hutchinson announced during his weekly COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday, March 30, that the statewide mask mandate put in place to prevent the spread of the virus will end as reported positive cases go down.

Hutchinson did say that with the lifting of the mandate statewide, private and local government entities have the choice to require masks inside their facilities.

The governor pointed the previous guidelines he had made for lifting the mask mandate during the press briefing, which included:

• “A value below 10% combined PCR and antigen positivity rate (7-day rolling average) with at least 7,500 specimens tested on average daily would be actionable.”
• “If testing is below 7,500 specimens daily, then the number of hospitalized patients would serve as the indicator for action. Fewer than 750 patients hospitalized statewide for COVID-19 would be the trigger.”

The governor acknowledges the state has reached all of these goals, and therefore, the mandate is being lifted.

Other cities/entities that are continuing the mask mandate:

• City of North Little Rock (city-owned buildings until further notice)
• Little Rock School District (school board will revisit issue on April 8)
• Pottsville School District (until the end of the school year)
• Mountain Pine School District