GOP Arkansas Gov Finally Issues Statewide Mask Rule

ABC News reports:



Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued an order Thursday requiring people to wear face masks in public throughout the state, which has had a surge in coronavirus cases over the past several weeks.

The Republican governor had resisted a statewide mask mandate and opposed issuing a stay-at-home order earlier in the pandemic, but he signed the order requiring masks when social distancing isn’t possible in the hopes of slowing the disease’s rapid spread in the state. The order takes effect Monday.

Hutchinson’s decision comes amid growing support for mask requirements from business and health leaders and a day after Bentonville-based Walmart said it would require customers to wear masks in all of its U.S. stores. The state’s largest newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, also called for a statewide requirement on Thursday.