Dear Editor:
I am concerned about the outdated covid-19 information cited by Maylon Rice. In his column published the week of Aug. 3-7, he states Arkansas is "ready to tragically break into the Top 30" of states with high covid-19 infection rates, but our regional daily newspaper, Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has for weeks reported Arkansas at a much higher place, and as of Aug. 7, it reported our state 17th in the nation, with 1,558 positive cases per 100,000 residents. In another big discrepancy, Rice reports 434 Arkansawyers have died of the coronavirus, but the Aug. 7 NWADG reports 515 deaths.
Statistics for covid-19 change daily, so some variation between a column being written and its later publication in a weekly newspaper is understandable, but Rice's stats are too far off to attribute to the delay between writing and printing.
I urge Rice to include the most up-to-date statistics possible or to explain why the stats he uses vary so greatly from those published elsewhere.
I also urge him to tell readers where current information may be found, such as on the CDC website https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html and the Arkansas Health Dept. website https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov//programs-services/topics/novel-coronavirus.
I agree with Rice that covid-19 should not be politicized because it affects everyone. Covid-19 doesn't care about party lines, religious faith, socio-economic level, or reputation. It relentlessly seeks any warm body to serve as a host in order to grow and spread, which is why masks help so much.
If the virus is blocked from entering our mouths and noses because of our masks, or is prevented from leaving our mouths and noses if we are infected (whether we know it or not), then it can't find new hosts, and it eventually dies out.
Frequent and thorough handwashing and physical distancing also limit its chances of finding a host.
These prevention measures save lives, and I appreciate those who are willing to comply not only for their own safety but also for the common good. Thank you!
Sincerely yours,
Denise Nemec
Fayetteville, Ark.