Covid update given

Covid numbers have had a constant decrease recently and continued to decline in the past week. Blytheville mayor James Sanders reported only 166 active cases in Mississippi County during his Wednesday report, down from 352 the previous week.

To avoid another spike as seen during January where cases surpassed 1,000, county health officer Dr. Valencia Andrews-Pirtle is pushing for the community to keep their guard up.

“It’s not time to drop the mask. Our numbers are down which is great, but we want them to stay down,” Pirtle said. “Don’t let your guard down so we can get this thing smashed. Make sure people who come to your homes are vaccinated and make sure we all wear our masks correctly.”

Sanders also added, “If you’re one who wears a mask, don’t be shamed into not wearing it. You made that choice for people in your family to remain safe. That's the same reason I wear my mask the way I do.”

“Things do happen in regards to illnesses, but I don’t want to be a contributing factor when it comes to exposing [family members] to covid,” Sanders said.

Additionally, Pirtle also pointed out a seperate local crisis in the medical field.

“We have a fair shortage of blood. We only had four pints of blood in our hospital,” Pirtle said. When you go to get a blood transfusion, most times you’re going to get two pints. If someone had a car accident on I-55 or here in town, we are hosed.”

Pirtle added that she reached out to the Arkansas Blood Institute about potentially organizing a blood drive that keeps the donations here in the community. She detailed how normally, donations are sent to St.Louis to be tested, cleaned and later sent to various states.

“It’s just really hard to see how it affects patients when they come to the office,” Pirtle said. “We really need more blood because we never know when those [situations for a transfusion] are needed. It’s hard seeing patients so tired and out of breath. When you don’t have enough blood, your heart beats faster and makes it harder to breathe. This is a crisis, it really is.”