As our state deals with the spread of covid-19 in the midst of a global outbreak, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette will publish five things you need to know each week. We'll be publishing these roundups in English, Spanish and Marshallese. You can read our full coverage at nwaonline.com/coronavirus/. Coronavirus coverage pertaining to crucial public health information will be available for all readers.
Here are this week’s five important things to know about the coronavirus.
• Arkansas has recorded 331,704 confirmed and probable cases of covid-19 since the pandemic began, according to data available April 9. State health officials have reported 5,662 covid-19 deaths and 324,287 recoveries. Officials also reported that Arkansas has given 1,329,393 doses of the covid-19 vaccine.
• Gov. Asa Hutchinson said April 6 he wants to make covid-19 vaccines available in schools to students age 16 and older before this school year ends.
• Hutchinson also said he won’t stop businesses from requiring their customers to show proof of vaccination. Republican governors in Florida and Texas have banned “vaccine passports.”
• People of color have been vaccinated at a lower rate than white people in Arkansas, data shows. To increase access to the vaccines for minority groups, a state Health Department “strike team” has been holding vaccination clinics since January in Pulaski, Jefferson, Desha, St. Francis and Sebastian counties. Clinics have targeted people with disabilities, faith-based groups, rural communities and the eldery, said Michelle Smith, director of the department's office of health equity and HIV elimination, on April 6.
• After rising for two weeks, Arkansas' allotment of coronavirus vaccine for people who have not yet received a shot is expected to drop by a third next week. The drop comes after reports that a manufacturing error at a Baltimore plant caused 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be discarded. As cases rise in other states, health officials encourage Arkansans to get whatever vaccine is available unless they have an allergy to the single-dose shot.
Spanish: nwaonline.com/news/2021/apr/09/viernes-9-de-abril-cinco-hechos-importantes/
Marshallese: nwaonline.com/news/2021/apr/09/bolaide-epr-9-lalem-men-raurk-im-jej-aikuij/