Arkansas Democrats urge lifting of state's mask mandate ban

LITTLE ROCK — A group of Democratic lawmakers in Arkansas, which has the nation's highest covid-19 rate, urged the governor and Republicans who control the Legislature on Thursday to lift the state's ban on schools and government entities requiring people to wear masks.

The lawmakers from Little Rock and surrounding Pulaski County asked Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson to call a special session of the Legislature or for its GOP leaders to reconvene it themselves to consider the repeal.

"Our frontline workers are re-living long, difficult hours of doing whatever it takes to care for COVID-stricken patients as hospitals are at or very nearly at capacity," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the governor and Republican legislative leaders.

The plea comes as the highly infectious delta variant causes rates to rise around the country, particularly in places where people have been most resistant to getting vaccinated.

Read more: https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2021/jul/22/arkansas-democrats-urge-lifting-states-mask-mandat/
(Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)