LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — After 14 months of keeping an eye on the pandemic, one of the first actions taken last March will soon come to an end.
"Today, I'm announcing an end to the public health emergency, effective May 30th," Governor Asa Hutchinson said Thursday morning. "The reason that we're ending the public health emergency declaration is that everybody in Arkansas already knows what to do."
Governor Hutchinson says because of the current trends in hospitalizations and cases, it made sense to do this.
"Everyone knows what to do, it is not an emergency," he said. "It is a maintenance of effort, in terms of our vaccines and managing the pandemic."
It wasn't the only thing the governor announced.
"We are in a vaccination campaign," he said. "That is our focus, and it will remain our focus."
$6.4 million will go to ads directly focused on vaccines, with another $2 million for ads targeting minority populations.
Ads feature familiar faces, including former Razorback Sidney Moncrief, and restaurant owners of popular restaurants across the state.
"And that brings me to my third announcement today," Governor Hutchinson said. "Pleased to announce that we're going to give a $100 bonus for executive branch state agency employees who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination."
That's a major category of worker who hasn't shown up to get their shots like the Governor would have liked.
Only 43.7% of those employees are vaccinated, according to the Governor. Roughly 25,000 employees would be eligible for that benefit.
Those employees will need to show proof that they've gotten at least one shot to receive that bonus, but it's a step towards making sure ending the emergency order was the right decision.
"We can do this in terms of long-term maintenance of effort," Governor Hutchinson said. "It is not necessary to have the emergency declaration to carry out this public health responsibility."