Featured image: Arkansas Department of Health Independence County stats on July 30 (pre-daily briefing)
Independence County has maintained a relatively low case count of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic in Arkansas in early March.
However, in the last two weeks, case numbers have increased.
Currently, according to the Arkansas Department of Health website, the county has reported 266 total positive cases with 143 of those active as of July 30. That means 53.7% of all diagnosed cases are active. The county has not reported any deaths related to the virus.
KAIT-TV in Jonesboro shared Wednesday evening that ABC News obtained a Daily Hotspot Triage Report from the Department of Homeland Security and both Independence County and Batesville were listed at emerging hotspots.
White River Now’s Gary B. reached out Thursday morning to both Batesville Mayor Rick Elumbaugh and Independence County Judge Robert Griffin for further comments.
“My hope is that our citizens continue to be mindful that we all have to continue to follow all of the directives from the Governor and the Centesr for Disease Control. This will be the only way we can get this pandemic under control,” said Elumbaugh.
Judge Griffin shared, “We have been pushing the message for months about the threat from this virus potentially reaching a high level of infections within our county. We had done so well for so long. We just hope and pray that deaths and long-term damage to the health of our citizens that are infected doesn’t come from this.”
According to information from Johns Hopkins University, the largest impacted demographic in the county is the white/non-Hispanic workforce aged 35-64.
