Gov. Asa Hutchinson, right, listens as Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith speaks Monday March 30, 2020 in Little Rock during a daily press conference about the corona virus in Arkansas. See more photos at arkansasonline.com/331governor/. - Photo by Staton Breidenthal

There are no projections for total deaths in Arkansas as a result of covid-19, Health Secretary Nate Smith said, even as federal officials estimate a total toll of 100,000 to 240,000 for the country.

He said what Arkansans do today will greatly affect the total. Testing and protecting nursing home residents, who are particularly vulnerable, will help reduce the death count, as will social distancing and other efforts to “flatten the curve,” Smith added.

He said if Arkansas can push back the date it experiences its peak in cases, there will be more resources including ventilators available to help people survive. Spreading the outbreak over a longer span of time will also help prevent large numbers of patients from overwhelming state hospitals.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson continued Tuesday to say no shelter-in-place order is necessary for Arkansas, though a number of other states have adopted them.

The governor said he believes the measures taken so far to specifically close certain public places including gyms, restaurant dining areas and beauty salons are effective for Arkansas in combination with social distancing.

3:10 P.M. UPDATE: Two more people have died of covid-19 in Arkansas, bringing the state's death toll to 10, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday at a news conference where he also announced new rules for state parks designed to limit visitors from out-of-state and stop the spread of the virus.

Hutchinson said there are 584 positive cases of coronavirus in Arkansas. Of these, 56 people are hospitalized, and 25 are on ventilators.

Eighteen patients are children, 396 are adults under 65 and 170 are adults 65 and older.

Health Secretary Nate Smith said four of the new cases are at nursing homes. Two live at the Villages of General Baptist West, bringing the facility’s total cases to 4, and the other two new positive patients live at Waters of White Hall, bringing that facility's total to 8.

Hutchinson said the new rules for state parks are designed to limit out-of-state travelers, including from surrounding states with more cases of covid-19 such as Louisiana and Texas.

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Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism Secretary Stacy Hurst said state parks will no longer allow overnight stays starting Friday. Parking will also be limited to available spaces, Hurst said, instead of the parks tolerating overflow into unofficial spots and on the sides of roads.

“Problematic” trails, as Hurst called them, will also be closed. This includes the Cedar Falls trail at Petit Jean State Park and the East and West Summit Trails at Pinnacle Mountain State Park.

Employees at state parks will be empowered to disperse large crowds and enforce the new rules.

Hutchinson has also recommended to the federal Secretary of the Interior that the Buffalo National River be closed. Hutchinson said 60% of its visitors Tuesday were from out-of-state.

Smith said at the news conference that state Health Department labs set a daily record for the agency's number of tests Tuesday: 147. Combined, UAMS, the state Health Department and commercial labs performed 903 tests Tuesday. A total of 7,124 tests have been performed up to this point, he said.

Testing capability is also expected to expand soon, Hutchinson said, when a partnership between the state, Walmart and Quest Diagnostics for drive-thru testing becomes operational.

The drive-thru testing will be available in Benton County to first responders and health care workers who have reason to believe they may be infected.

Hutchinson said no date for the site’s opening has been finalized but said Walmart expects it to be operational next week.

– Nyssa Kruse

1:41 P.M. UPDATE: The number of positive cases of covid-19 in Arkansas rose by Wednesday afternoon to 584, according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Two additional deaths were reported, bringing the state death toll to 10, Hutchinson said.

EARLIER: The number of positive cases of covid-19 in Arkansas rose overnight to 566, an increase of two since Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health.

The number of deaths remained at eight on Wednesday morning, and a total of 42 people have recovered from the illness, the agency reports.