Arkansas only has 25 available hospital beds as COVID overwhelms state: Governor Asa Hutchinson admits he REGRETS banning mask mandates 'in hindsight'

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson is regretting the statewide ban on mask mandates he signed into law in late April as it's revealed the entire state is down to 25 available ICU beds in hospitals.

The number is a record low for the entire pandemic, Angela Rachels, a journalist at a local ABC affiliate confirmed on Twitter.

According to US News & World Report there are just over 1,100 total ICU beds across the whole state.

There are currently 469 COVID patients in the ICU and 'around half of those are on , Rachels writes.

A journalist at a local ABC affiliate reported the record low number of ICU beds

In a press briefing Tuesday Hutchinson was asked whether restricting local officials from requiring masks at a time when the state's cases were plummeting was a 'bad decision.'

'Our cases were at a low point,' he prefaced, adding 'Everything has changed now. And yes in hindsight I wish that had not become law but it is the law, and the only chance we have is either to amend it or for the courts to say that it has an unconstitutional foundation.'

Hutchinson argued the law would have passed either way because 'it would be overridden by the state legislature if I didn't sign it.'

Governor Asa Hutchinson said the mask mandate ban came at a time 'cases were at a low point' in a Tuesday press conference when asked if he regrets the decision

The governor appeared to begin saying he was 'not supportive' of minority rule before correcting himself to say he eliminated the state's existing mask mandate.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID in Arkansas rose by 30 on Tuesday to 1,250 - the highest level since January 19th, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. 

The number of new cases is outpacing the number of recoveries, the outlet reported. 

Patients on ventilators number at 260 now, the largest number of COVID patients on the machines since the state's all-time high of 268 on January 11th. 

Active coronavirus cases in Arkansas climbed to nearly 19,500. 

Before admitting his mistake Tuesday Hutchinson has been desperately trying to backtrack on the ban.

Hutchinson reinstated Arkansas' pandemic emergency declaration two months after he lifted it. The previous emergency window, declared in March 2020, expired on May 30th.

This week Arkansas saw its highest 7-day average number of infections since January

The number of vaccinations has climbed in recent days after hospitalizations made a troubling spike through July

Hutchinson is calling on lawmakers to hold an emergency session to discuss making an exception to the mask mandate ban for public schools

He also called for a special session of the state legislature last week to urge lawmakers to lift the mask mandate ban in public schools weeks before students ready to get back to school. He made the call official on Tuesday.

Children ages 11 and under can't get the vaccine, according to CDC guidelines.

The state's top health official Jose Romero said 19 percent of people hospitalized with COVID are children under 18. 

A local Fox affiliate reported seven children in Arkansas Children's ICU and four were on ventilators. 

The state's vaccination rates also lag behind most of the country. 

The number of new COVID infections surged across the entire US in July

Arkansas lags behind the rest of the country's vaccination rate with only 37% of residents fully vaccinated - the third lowest in the US

Arkansas is third to last of all US states in the number of fully vaccinated residents - just 37 percent, the New York Times reports, only ahead of Mississippi and Alabama.   

Only 47 percent of adults received just one dose, well under the national average of 58 percent.  

Vaccinations have also risen by more than 30,000 in recent days, the state's third-largest one-day increase since the Health Department began recording the daily figures in January.

Hutchinson said roughly 25,000 of those were first doses, adding he was 'pleased' with the increased demand.