Hyde encourages covid-19 caution

Pulaski County’s chief executive urged citizens to remain vigilant about covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, amid a sharp rise in cases.

In a note to residents emailed via a distribution list Wednesday, County Judge Barry Hyde stressed that 38 residents of the state’s most populous county have died in the pandemic. Three additional deaths had since been reported, as of Friday.

“Now is not the time for the residents of this great county to let down our guard, now is the time to show that we are united in our efforts to mitigate the spread of this horrible virus,” he wrote.

“If this virus has taught us anything it is that we are not invincible.”

The note also called attention to “racial injustices” highlighted by nationwide anti-racist protests in recent weeks,” Hyde wrote.

On Friday, Arkansas reported a record-high single-day total of new virus cases, at 731.