Case total in 2 border-state counties dwarfs Arkansas’

Two counties that border Arkansas had a total of 2,121 positive cases of the coronavirus as of Saturday evening.

That’s 893 more than the entire state of Arkansas, which had 1,228 cases.

One county in Tennessee had almost as many confirmed cases of covid-19 as all of Arkansas.

In Shelby County, Tenn. — where Memphis is located — 1,147 people had tested positive for the coronavirus. Memphis has an estimated population of 650,618, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Three hundred miles to the southwest, there were 974 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Caddo Parish, La., which borders Miller County in Arkansas’ southwest corner. Shreveport, with a population of 188,987, is the seat of Caddo Parish.

Of the 35 counties in states that border Arkansas, Shelby County, Tenn., and Caddo Parish, La., have had far more positive covid-19 cases than any of the other counties, based on a “daily border report” from the Arkansas Department of Health.

The next-highest numbers of covid-19 cases in outof-state border counties are 178 in Bossier Parish, La. — which borders Caddo Parish — and 163 in Desoto County, Miss. — which borders Shelby County, Tenn., and Arkansas’ Crittenden County.

West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon said 70,000 vehicles cross the two bridges going into and out of Memphis on an average day. Crittenden County, where West Memphis is located, has had 89 positive cases of covid-19.

Fewer people are traveling during the pandemic, but many trucks are still hauling

“We could not do that under our authority. We’re not health professionals. I don’t know who would do that screening.” — Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Transportation, saying covid-19 screening is not in his department’s jurisdiction

freight cross-country.

McClendon said he’d like for truck drivers crossing the bridges from Tennessee to be voluntarily screened for covid-19 when they stop at the weigh stations in West Memphis. He said there are two westbound weigh stations — one on Interstate 40 and one on Interstate 55.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said it was an idea that “should be explored.”

“We continue to look at ways to keep the virus from coming into our state from hot spots across the country,” Hutchinson said in a text message Friday. “A state cannot stop interstate commerce. We can do certain inspections, and the mayor’s idea should be explored. There are manpower issues since we have so many entry points. We will continue to look at the issue.”

Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Transportation, said covid-19 screening would be out of his department’s jurisdiction.

“We could not do that under our authority,” he said. “We’re not health professionals. I don’t know who would do that screening.”

Ort said only some truck drivers entering Arkansas from Memphis are required to stop at weigh stations.

Kenny Haskin said things are a bit different in the southwest corner of Arkansas. He’s the city manager of Texarkana, Ark., which borders Texas and is about 30 miles north of Louisiana.

“Texarkana is some miles away from the Arkansas-Louisiana border, and it would be up to our state leaders in Little Rock to institute testing of incoming traffic or close that border,” Haskin said in an email Saturday. “In the meantime, we have joined with our sister city, Texarkana, Texas, to create a task force that can provide information to our citizens and track the evolving movement of covid-19 in our area.”

If Arkansans follow the advice of the governor and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “we will be able to mitigate any possible influx from surrounding states,” Haskin said.

Hutchinson has been criticized by some for not issuing a statewide stay-at-home order, but in a White House news briefing Friday, Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious-disease expert, praised Hutchinson’s efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

Hutchinson has used a more “targeted” approach that has included closing public schools; limiting restaurants to takeout and delivery only; closing movie theaters, hair salons and other personal-contact businesses; and prohibiting indoor gatherings of more than 10 people.

Texarkana, Ark., is the county seat of Miller County, where 22 people have tested positive for the coronavirus.

When asked about screening drivers crossing the Louisiana state line into Arkansas, Hutchinson had a similar response to the one he had when asked about West Memphis.

“We can do certain inspections and we are exploring the necessity and effectiveness of that action,” he said in a text message Saturday. “No decision has been made. We have deployed mobile testing units on the Arkansas side of the line to better measure any virus spread. So far, the protocols in place on the Arkansas side are still proven effective. Of course, the concern is not just the border areas, and that is why we have strictly restricted out-ofstate recreational travel to our places of lodging and parks.”

On April 4, Hutchinson ordered commercial lodgings and short-term rentals in Arkansas not to provide occupancy to recreational travelers from outside the state. The order included hotels, motels and vacation rentals.

Hutchinson has encouraged Arkansans to get outside and get some exercise. Many heeded his advice but didn’t maintain the 6-foot social-distancing rule recommended by the governor and the CDC.

As a result, many facilities at state parks have been temporarily closed because of crowding during the pandemic, and the U.S. Department of the Interior has temporarily closed the Buffalo National River in the Ozark Mountains, after the governor and other lawmakers recommended its closure.

At his March 31 news briefing on the coronavirus, Hutchinson mentioned that Texas state troopers were screening motorists driving over from Louisiana.

Hutchinson said many workers cross the Arkansas-Louisiana border every day while going to and from work. Commerce also crosses the state line, he said.

“You … don’t want to impede commerce because we have vital goods and essential services that are being delivered,” Hutchinson said. “It might be a load of [personal protective equipment] that’s coming to us via some of these routes. And so you want to make sure that commerce flows, and you want to make sure that across our state lines from Louisiana and Arkansas that the workers can go.”

Hutchinson said the best way to reduce the flow of outof-state visitors was to limit the availability of attractions in Arkansas, such as park facilities.

There are four bridges over the Mississippi River into Arkansas — two at West Memphis, one at Helena-West Helena in Phillips County next to the Mississippi border, and one at Lake Village in Chicot County in Arkansas’ southeast corner. On the opposite side of the state, there’s a bridge over the Arkansas River from Oklahoma into Fort Smith.

Pulaski County remains the leader of covid-19 cases in Arkansas with 249 as of late Saturday. It was followed by Jefferson County with 91 and Crittenden County with 89.

In Arkansas, 25 people have died of covid-19, including nine in Pulaski County and two each in Jefferson and Crittenden counties.

In New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, there have been about 100,000 positive cases of covid-19.

New Orleans is a regional hot sp0t, with more than 5,000 confirmed cases.