COVID-19 count on rise in Northeast Arkansas

Friday, October 2, 2020

In his Wednesday COVID-19 update, Blytheville Mayor James Sanders reported Northeast Arkansas’s case count is still on the rise. He reported that from Sept. 20 to 26 Northeast Arkansas had the highest growth rate in the state at 9.4 percent.

Despite the admitted inconvenience of social distancing and wearing a mask, Sanders pushed for continued support of the guidelines presented by the CDC when interacting with the public. “If they don’t live in your house, it’s easier to and better to wear a mask when coming into contact with other individuals,” Sanders said. “These are all choices that we have to make. They’re not laws, they’re choices about what you want to do with your family and how you want to interact with your family. I just ask you to be mindful and think about what you’re doing and who you’re exposing but again, there is no cure.”

Fire Chief Mike Carney advocated about the importance of utilizing the COVID-19 testing provided in this area.

“Please take advantage of it,” Carney said. “With flu season coming up I know there’s going to be a lot of concern about (symptoms) being COVID or the flu. In my opinion, if you do have that concern, just go get checked out.”

As of Friday, there had been 1,728 cases in Mississippi County, with 94 active cases, 1,583 recoveries, and 51 deaths.