Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine January 2021

14%. Truth is, this is not something you can hang your hat on because we do not know if the unreported racial demographic can be proportionately distributed by the same percentage as those reported. Lots of words, let’s speculate. The July 2019 estimated census data put the racial make up of Arkansans as 72% white and 15.7% black. Isn’t it amazing that the census numbers and the interpolated virus infections are almost identical. While this involves some degree of speculation, my conclusion is that the virus is an equal opportunity infector. Age Related The following is truly squirrelly based on what we hear on the news — all the time. On December 28, 2020, the greatest incidence of viral infection came in the 25 – 44 age bracket, 32%. Even 13% in the under 18 bracket — almost as many as in the 65 and older. How can this be? Maybe we are doing a much better job of protecting our seniors. That is good but it does not support the drum beat that the virus is not prone to younger folks. From the news, one would think that children had some sort of natural immunity. I don’t think that the parents of 2,888 under age 18 would agree to that.

COVID 19 Update Facts & Opinion

There is an adage, “ Some people do n’t let the facts get in the way of a good story” . That is pretty much how this COVID 19 reporting has gone. From our first article and the White Paper presented to you in March 2020, we all have been given opinion overload (sometimes based on facts). This article uses statistics obtained from the Arkansas Department of Health dated December 18, 2020. If their facts are correct, this editorial is at least on solid ground even though you may decide to disagree with the conclusions. At any rate, it is my opinion and I’m sticking to it. Active Cases More women than men have contracted the virus — 51% female and 47% male. The other 2% are listed as missing. Guess that means the gender wasn’t recorded not that the patient ’ s gender was missing. More whites than blacks — 58% white and 11% black. 6% are Latino/Hispanic and 5% other. You probably used elementary math to see that this does not equal 100%. That is in part because almost 25% of the active cases did not record the race. Now this brings up an interesting fact. We hear all the time about the disproportionate number of African Americans that contract the virus. It is presented by the main stream media as the virus being racist. If we proportionately distribute the racially unreported numbers based on the percentages based on the known data, whites comprise 72% and blacks

That brings up the subject of should schools be closed. They are “ Wrong if they do and wrong if they don’t.” Here is what I know. You get one snotty nose