For most of April and May, it was largely quiet on the coronavirus front in Carroll County. For quite a while there were fewer than ten cases. Carroll County and Arkansas overall seemed to be faring well with far fewer cases and deaths than surrounding states.
But as of June 2, Carroll County is up to 25 cases of Covid-19 and has had its first death. Carroll County Judge Sam Barr, 81, said the man who died from the virus last Friday had been his friend for 60-plus years.
There has been speculation that Carroll County residents and visitors might not be taking recommended precautions because, for them, the virus seems too far away to pose a real threat. But Barr said Covid-19 has felt real to him even before losing his friend to the disease.
Barr said he believes the reason for the increase in cases is that testing has become more available and is provided free at some sites. He encourages residents to take it seriously no matter their age.
“It is not just older people who are getting very sick and dying,” Barr said. “It is all different ages. I think a lot of people have had it and gotten over it. I see people not wearing masks or observing social distancing, and I think that is the key to this. The best thing you can do is try to keep your social distance, wear a mask and wash your hands so often you make them raw.”
Berryville Mayor Tim McKinney said he was notified by the health department when the first case was reported in Berryville, but has had no official notifications since then.
“I am concerned about the increase,” McKinney said. “It seems like everyone got out on Memorial Day weekend thinking it was over. Hopefully, it is over, but I’m afraid we might be getting ahead of ourselves with everyone getting out again and trying to get businesses back open. Walmart has a lot of shoppers, and few are wearing a mask. We need to be cautious. And I think we need to be doing a lot of testing to see what is going on.”
McKinney agreed the increased numbers could be related to more testing. He hasn’t heard of many cases in Berryville. Tyson has chicken processing plants in Berryville and Green Forest. McKinney said since day one he has heard rumors about cases at Tyson in Berryville.
“They are a big target,” McKinney said. “But from what I heard about the Berryville plant, it is contained. That is not official. They are sending people home at the first sign of illness. They are having production issues because they are sending so many people home.”
The Arkansas Department of Health said that six of the Covid-19 cases in Carroll County are poultry plant workers. There have also been reports of family members of Tyson workers coming down with the virus, but the ADH doesn’t track cases in family members of poultry plant workers.
State reports swift escalation in NWA
Northwest Arkansas has seen the biggest surge in Covid-19 cases in the state, an increase that even caught the attention of the New York Times because the area has one of the more rapidly increasing rates in the country. As of June 2, Arkansas had seen six days of triple-digit increases in cases.
At a press conference in Rogers on Monday, State Health Secretary Dr. Nate Smith said Covid-19 cases are rapidly increasing, with about 40 percent of the new cases in Benton and Washington counties from the Hispanic community, with 27 percent of those cases in poultry workers.
According to ADH, the total number of cases in poultry workers statewide increased from 301 to 415 in the past week, a 37 percent increase, and an estimated 69 percent of the cases were in Hispanics.
McKinney said these are certainly trying times for everyone. “We have to just hope we can ride it out,” he said.
On May 26, the state saw the largest number of new cases in one day, 261, that weren’t related to prison outbreaks. However, overall Arkansas has had one of the lower rates of infection and number of deaths from covid in the country. For example, Arkansas has reported 7,013 cases and 133 deaths. Mississippi has reported 15,752 cases and 739 deaths. Both states have about three million residents.
The United States is up to about 1.8 million cases and 106,004 deaths.