Blytheville fireman tests positive; now 6 deaths in county

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

During Monday’s COVID-19 press conference, Blytheville Fire Chief Mike Carney announced that a member of the department tested positive for COVID-19.

“I recently had a member of our department test positive for the virus. As a result of that I have seven others in quarantine awaiting their test results,” said Carney.

Carney continued, “We are doing what we have to do. I was tested recently and my results came back negative. I think we are all seeing that summer is here and everyone is not taking it seriously. If you are one of those that are not taking it seriously then you are a part of the problem. We’ve got to change our way of thinking.”

As of Tuesday morning, there have been six COVID-19 deaths in Mississippi County with 147 active positive cases. There have been a total of 450 positive tests, 297 recoveries and 4,826 negatives.

On Monday, Blytheville Mayor James Sanders and Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson spoke about the new mask regulations that were ordered by Governor Asa Hutchinson.

“This is a directive by the governor's office and we will be following his directives,” said Sanders.

Thompson said, “It’s sad that he had to mandate it but it’s common sense. This is real, it is going on, it’s no government conspiracy, people are getting sick and some are unfortunately passing away. We will be enforcing all the laws and all of the governor’s mandates. No one is going out trying to be the mask police but this is a national health crisis and I’m sure the governor did not make this decision lightly.”

Sanders also mentioned that according to a recent report from Governor Hutchinson, Mississippi county was in the group of the top 11 counties for the number of positive cases in a 24-hour period.