April 8: 1,077 COVID-19 cases in Arkansas; Craighead at 27

As Wednesday begins, Arkansas is at 1,023 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Randolph, Greene, and Craighead counties all saw increases yesterday.


6:27 PM

Arkansas Total: 1,077

Deaths: 18

Recoveries: 237

Total Tested: 14,909

The Arkansas Department of Health began reporting recoveries by county on Wednesday. Craighead County rose to 27 positives and 8 recoveries

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Click here to view the map


Current as of 8:00 PM

NEA Summary

Clay County: 1 positive, 0 recoveries, 41 negative
Craighead County: 27 positive, 8 recoveries, 212 negative
Crittenden County: 65 positive, 7 recoveries, 367 negative, 1 death
Greene County: 6 positive, 3 recoveries, 263 negative
Independence County: 5 positive, 4 recoveries, 54 negative
Jackson County: 0 positive, 0 recoveries, 20 negative
Lawrence County: 8 positive, 0 recoveries, 85 negative, 1 death
Poinsett County: 6 positive, 3 recoveries, 27 negative
Mississippi County: 4 positive, 2 recoveries, 29 negative
Randolph County: 6 positive, 1 recoveries, 126 negative
Sharp County: 2 positive, 0 recoveries, 15 negative

Don’t see your county? View the ADH map here.


Current as of 8 PM

United States Total: 430,376

Deaths: 14,739

Recoveries: 23,707


Global Total: 1,413,358

Deaths: 88,415

Recoveries: 329,329

Sources: ADH; JHU


1,939 Americans died on Tuesday of the coronavirus

A USA Today tracker map shows more American deaths on Tuesday, April 7, from the coronavirus than on any single day, yet. 1,939 new deaths were reported Tuesday. The numbers of new cases continued recent trends of adding about 30,000 new Americans each day.  Read more from the USA Today.


Black Americans dying of coronavirus at higher rates

As mentioned by President Donald Trump during his press conference Tuesday evening, African Americans appear to be succumbing to COVID-19 at much higher rates compared to other Americans in several major cities. For example, of 512 coronavirus-related deaths in Louisiana, about 360, or 70 percent, were African American. Black people comprise less than one-third of the state’s population. Read more from USA Today.


John Prine, singer/song writer, dies from complications related to COVID-19

Read more from Rolling Stone


1:30 PM 

Spain’s coronavirus death rate has gone back up

What appeared to be a ray of light earlier in the week in Spain has dimmed somewhat. On Tuesday, 743 people died in Spain compared to 637 the day prior.  Read more from Reuters.


8 PM

Parks shuttering more equipment in Jonesboro

press release

Jonesboro City Parks and Recreation Department is shuttering exercise equipment, picnic tables and restrooms as a next-step measure in the effort to prevent spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in Craighead County.

Mayor Harold Perrin made the decision after discussions with Chief of Staff Mike Downing and Parks Director Danny Kapales.

“This is where Danny and his staff are seeing people gather, and there’s no way we can keep those places sanitized enough to prevent spread of this highly infectious disease,” Perrin said Wednesday.

With more than 20 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the county, a University of Texas study reports that Craighead is 99-percent likely to experience an outbreak of epidemic proportions in the coming weeks and months.

Perrin and City Medical Director Dr. Shane Speights of NYIT have expressed concern particularly about young people not heeding the warnings about social distancing. Most reports have shown that young people experience less severe symptoms when catching the virus, but a national report Wednesday revealed that more than 750 Americans under age 50 have already died with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Arkansas has more than 1,000 confirmed cases, but experts agree that the true number is significantly higher.

“Every doctor or expert I talk to tells me that many test kits have not been run, and I know of a few myself,” Perrin said. “If we are not able to get test results in a timely manner, it is really difficult to get a handle on just how many cases of COVID-19 we have in Jonesboro.”

As Jonesboro also continues to recover from the March 28 tornado, Perrin announced that the drop-off areas for tornado debris on Strawfloor Road will be closed Sunday, April 12, for the Easter holiday.


This story will be updated all throughout Wednesday, April 8, 2020. Check back and refresh for more information.

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