阿肯色州共和党州长阿萨·哈钦森说，他对4月份签署一项禁止口罩强制令的法律感到遗憾，并试图扭转这一局面冠状病毒感染激增在未接种疫苗的年轻人中，这使他成为一些共和党州长中的局外人，这些州长在反对掩盖的观点上加倍让步。
周四，当被美国广播公司《早安美国》首席主播乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯问及是什么改变了他的想法时，哈钦森说，“德尔塔变体对我们打击很大。”
据美联社报道，今年4月至7月，阿肯色州18岁以下人群中的病毒病例增加了517%报告。
该州和该国其他热点地区一样，正在经历一场新冠肺炎令人恐惧的激增有3000人新案件周三，目前有1，232人住院，随着delta变体的传播。
据统计，到目前为止，该州42%的12岁及以上的合格人口至少接种了一剂疫苗状态数据，大多数18岁及以上的成年人也没有接种疫苗。
哈钦森说:“有很多不信任，我们希望克服这一点，因为我相信医学科学、疫苗是有效的，我们需要把那些东西拿出来——因为这是解决这个问题的方法。
但是任期有限的阿肯色州州长是一个共和党州长中的异类随着这项公共政策措施继续引发关于个人自由的辩论，全国各地的人都在加倍努力自己的立法，禁止口罩强制令。
佛罗里达州共和党州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)对美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)做出了回应。佛罗里达州已经成为病毒的中心周二告诉州长通过让他的挑衅成为一个号召和筹款工具来帮助或“让开”，发出一封主题为“我挡住了乔·拜登的路”的信
德桑蒂斯在周三的新闻发布会上说:“我挡住了你的去路。”他宣称，佛罗里达州将保持“自由州”的地位，孩子们不会被要求戴口罩。
德桑蒂斯的立场得到了共和党政府的认同。得克萨斯州的格雷格·艾伯特曾表示得克萨斯人应该有“选择的权利”，内布拉斯加州的皮特·里基茨、爱荷华州的金·雷诺兹、亚利桑那州的道格·杜西和南达科他州的克里斯蒂·诺姆都嘲笑过疾病控制和预防中心最新掩蔽建议在传播水平高或高的地区，无论是否接种疫苗，每个人都要在公共场所和室内佩戴口罩。
莎拉·哈克比·桑德斯(Sarah Huckabee Sanders)是2022年阿肯色州州长竞选中接替哈钦森的领先者，她明确表示，无论情况如何，她都反对所有口罩和疫苗的授权。
她说:“如果我在阿肯色州当选州长，我们将不会有口罩的授权，我们不会有疫苗的授权，我们不会关闭教堂和学校以及其他大型集会，因为我们相信个人自由和责任。”讲述福克斯新闻频道上个月。
相反，哈钦森在周二的新闻发布会上告诉公众，他希望口罩禁令不会成为法律，他呼吁召开特别立法会议，要求立法者撤销禁令，这样公立学校就可以灵活地要求学生戴口罩。
但共和党领导的阿肯色州立法机构周四没有同意哈钦森的要求，该法案也没有在委员会之外通过..
他在一份声明中说:“我对众议院公共卫生委员会今天的行动感到失望。“允许当地学区保护12岁以下没有资格接种新冠肺炎疫苗的学生是保守、合理和富有同情心的。上周在马里恩学区发生的病例和隔离说明了行动的紧迫性。如果我们要有一个成功的学年，那么当地学区需要有灵活性来保护那些处于危险中的人。”
立法机构周三开会时，小石城学区教育委员会投票决定对该州提起诉讼，因为反口罩法。接下来是另一个诉讼周一，家长们也以担心孩子在学校的健康为由，试图推翻这项法律。
周三，在共和党议员的反对下，可能避免这些诉讼的法案H.B. 1003未能在公共卫生小组中获得通过。
但是，尽管立法机构周四继续开会讨论细节，但阿肯色州马里恩学区的至少730名学生和工作人员仍处于隔离状态——就在开学两周之后。
哈钦森在“早安美国”节目中展示了这个数字，并被问及他是否有信心让孩子们回到学校是安全的，他说会有挑战，但他说该州的重点应该是疫苗而不是口罩，以防止疫情爆发。
“我们的重点应该放在疫苗上，而不是转移话题，在一场关于口罩的小辩论中，尽管这对12岁及以下的人以及我们所说的灵活性很重要，”他说。
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson seeks to reverse mask ban he signed, making him a GOP outlier
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas said he regrets signing an April law banning mask mandates and is seeking to reverse it ascoronavirus infections soaramong unvaccinated youth, making him an outlier among some Republican governors who have doubled down on their anti-masking views.
Asked by ABC's "Good Morning America" Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on Thursday what changed his thinking, Hutchinson said, "The delta variant hit us hard."
Arkansas has seen a 517% increase in the number of virus cases among people under 18 between April and July, according to an Associated Pressreport.
The state, like other hotspots in the country, is experiencing afrightening surge in COVID-19with 3,000new caseson Wednesday and 1,232 currently hospitalized, as the delta variant spreads.
So far, 42% of the state’s eligible population ages 12 and up has received at least one dose of a vaccine, according tostate data, and a majority of adults 18 and over are also unvaccinated.
"There's been a lot of distrust and we hope to overcome that because medical sciences, vaccines work, I believe, and we need to get those out -- because that's the way out of this," Hutchinson said.
But the Arkansas governor, who is term-limited, is anoutlier among Republican governorsacross the country who are doubling down on their own legislation banning mask mandates as the public policy measure continues to feed debate over personal liberties.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, a state that has become the epicenter of the virus, responded to President Joe Bidentelling governors on Tuesdayto help or "get out of the way" by making his defiance a rallying call -- and a fundraising tool, sending out a letter with the subject line: "I'm Standing In Joe Biden's Way."
"I am standing in your way," DeSantis said at a press conference Wednesday, declaring that Florida will remain a "free state" where children won't be asked to wear masks.
DeSantis' position is shared by Republican Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas, who has said Texans should have the "right to choose," as well as Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Doug Ducey of Arizona and Kristi Noem of South Dakota, who have all ridiculed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention'slatest masking recommendationthat everyone in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission -- vaccinated or not -- wear a mask in public, indoor settings.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the front-runner to replace Hutchinson in the 2022 Arkansas governor race, has made clear she opposes all mask and vaccine mandates no matter the circumstances.
"If I am elected governor here in Arkansas we will not have mask mandates, we will not have mandates on the vaccine, we will not shut down churches and schools and other large gatherings, because we believe in personal freedom and responsibility," shetoldFox News last month.
Hutchinson, instead, after telling the public at a press conference Tuesday he wishes the mask ban wouldn't have become law, called for a special legislative session asking lawmakers to reverse it, only so that public schools can have the flexibility to require masks for students.
But the GOP-led legislature in Arkansas did not go along with Hutchinson's request Thursday and the bill did not make it out of committee..
"I am disappointed by the actions of the House Public Health Committee today," he said in a statement. "It is conservative, reasonable and compassionate to allow local school districts to protect those students who are under 12 and not eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine. The cases and quarantines at the Marion School District during the last week illustrate the urgency of action. If we are going to have a successful school year then the local school districts need to have flexibility to protect those that are at risk."
As the legislature met Wednesday, the Little Rock School District Board of Education voted to file a lawsuit against the state because of the anti-mask law. That follows anotherlawsuitfiled Monday by parents also seeking to strike the law down, citing health concerns for their children at school.
The bill which might stave off those lawsuits, H.B. 1003, failed to advance in public health panel Wednesday after GOP lawmakers pushed back.
But while the legislature continues to meet Thursday to work out the details, at least 730 students and staff from the Marion School District in Arkansas were under quarantine -- just two weeks after classes started.
Presented with that number on "Good Morning America" and asked if he's confident that it's safe for kids to go back to school, Hutchinson said there would be challenges but said the state's focus should be on vaccines over masks to prevent outbreaks.
"Our emphasis should be on the vaccines and not get sidetracked, in a minutia debate on masks, even though that is important for the 12 and under, and the flexibility we're talking about," he said.
