A Silver Lining to the COVID Cloud
4 • Saline County Lifestyles • Conquering COVID
7,602 miles away from Saline County, a microscopic virus so small that 8,000 of them can fit on the head of a pin spread from the first infected person to our community and every corner of the world in a matter of weeks. The impact on every aspect of our day-to-day existence is difficult to adequately explain, describe or quantify. Words fail. There is no frame of reference on what to expect or do. There are no roadmaps, procedures or protocols to address the uncertainty when information we are learning about the novel coronavirus seems to change daily. So what does this county do when faced with tough times? That’s easy. We pull together, put on our thinking caps and do the hard work. We find ways to make it better. We move forward. This time, while different from any other we have faced in our nation’s history, people throughout our county adapted. Most of all, out leaders stepped up. The decisions weren’t easy. Some weren’t popular. But with a wider perspective and the goal of mitigating the spread, at the time of this writing, Saline County has 68 positive cases and 1 death compared to 1,182,615 positive cases and 68,247 deaths across the United States. January 21, 2020 was the date of the first reported case of the novel coronavirus in the United States. Less than two months later on March 11, the first case was confirmed in Arkansas. As the numbers began to spike over the coming weeks, several states imposed orders for residents to stay at home. In Arkansas, Governor Asa Hutchison did not choose this course of action while the states on our borders did. Instead, targeted closings and restrictions were put into place in attempts to limit face-to-face interactions. Social distancing became the norm with the expectation that individuals stay six feet apart from each other. Shortly afterward, schools were closed. Some businesses closed while others adapted to what everyone was calling “the new normal.” For public
