Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, The Arkansas Times, and KUARFM 89.

And hello again everyone, and thanks very much for being with us.

Perhaps you thought it was a thing of the past and enemy vanquished, A nuisance?

Eliminated.

No, COVID not only is still with us, it is doing precisely what experts predicted, continuing to mutate, while many of us have done exactly what the experts feared, lowered our guard An update on a continuing clinical threat in just a few minutes.

But first, to some, it is a case study in the decline of American infrastructure.

For the residents of an Arkansas city striving to regain its status as a jewel of the delta, the issue is rather less academic.

Indeed, it is basic fundamental the Helena West Helena water system barely, barely works and sometimes doesn't.

A $100,000 emergency loan from the state has helped keep the system operating.

But the leaks, the shutdowns, the boil orders likely won't stop, it would appear, until it is essentially replaced at a cost in the millions.

We're joined now via Skype by James Valley, Chief of Staff for Helena West, Helena Mayor Chris Franklin, Chris Colcleasure, Director of the state Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Division and also by Skype, Andrew Bagley, publisher of the Helena World.

And we thank all three of you for being a part of the broadcast.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders was in Helena West Helena Phillips County earlier this week for some economic development announcements, economic development business, and did spend some time addressing the issue of water with an education town meeting.

Working that in meeting with local officials to talk about the the crisis and later emphasizing the importance of of an engineering assessment which is now underway.

Mr. Valley has the needle has the needle moved any at all in the past several days.

Well we're we're making progress.

Yes, Sir.

So the needle has moved.

We have engineers working on getting an assessment for the governor and helping us to figure out a plan short term and long term to remedy our water situation in Hell of Us Down.

Mr.

Cold Closure.

Yes Sir.

Next step you got $100,000.

The town of the community has 100 grand now that it will at least keep the water flowing some of the time hopefully, yeah.

So the the 100,000 was really to get them out of the emergency phase.

So luckily we've been through the emergency.

We're we're delivering water today in Helena, but there is you know some larger infrastructure issues that are going to have to be 1 assessed and then figure out how to how to fund those going forward so that they're, you know, those repairs can be made and the rehab can be done so that their system is more dependable.

Yeah.

Andrew Bagley in Helena, how's the community handling the Andrew the journalist, how's the community handling this?

The community is very frustrated and I think that it's a testament to the community that we've not had more discord because I was.

I live on the Helena, West Helena water system.

On that West Helena side that failed and left us without any water at all for all or parts of five days in a six day.

It felt like we were living in a third world country.

So there's a lot of frustration with the immediate situation.

There's a lot of frustration with the way things have been handled in the past leading up to this.

And I don't just mean the current leadership in the previous administration.

You know, we've got decades of things to look at and frustration about opportunities missed.

We we've got a culture that defers maintenance in favor of spending money on increased labor costs, particularly on the administrative side.

So there's a lot of frustration, a lot of blame that that people want to place.

They want to, they want good service.

They want the water system to work.

They want it to be reliable in the sewer system as well.

We don't talk about that much, but it needs a lot of work as well.

And it's going to require some sacrifice from people, which is probably going to lead to more frustration as well because the rates are going to have to go up to be able to fund the 50 to $60 million worth of improvements that we need.

Mr. Valley, will you concur with that as Helena was, as the administration of the city been living on the cheap?

Well, well, we we've got a list of problems.

And I understand the frustration that the citizens have expressed and the concerns that they have that that's been concerned about how money has been spent in the past and things of that nature.

So that's that plays right into the frustration that the people have about why we are where we are.

But we are trying to step by step day by day remedy the problem that we have with this water system and it's a talent I I have to give you that.

I I don't know about it to blame.

But this this has been coming for many, many years and we just have I guess been going through austerity measures as opposed to raising rate all alone such that we could have the good infrastructure that we need.

We can come back to that in a moment and and likely we'll Chris Cole glazier, this is going to be very, very expensive.

Do we have a sense of where the money is going to come from and when?

Yeah, not yet.

I mean first of all we need to figure out what the actual cost is and then prioritization of the the pieces of the system that need to be repaired.

Obviously there are funding sources available, but the majority of those are loans.

And so as you've heard about rate increases and those things, typically those have to happen to be able to afford the debt service going, you know, to be able to repay the loans.

You know, there are some grant funds available.

And it just depends on you know, first of all the amount of infrastructure, the amount of dollars being requested to see whether or not, you know, grant funds will even touch the majority of the the expenses that realistically are we not talking into the 10s of millions of dollars, I would expect it to go above 10 million.

But The thing is, is is again, it's about prioritization.

It's what are those things that you need to do right now and what are the things that you could do over five years, you know, but there'll be some that'll need to be done, you know, immediately, Yeah.

But no question though that the citizens of Helen and West, Helen, are at some point are going to have to bite the bullet more than likely.

In most cases when we provide assistance, it primarily is loans.

And in those cases, if the rates aren't high enough at that time for that community to fund their system and repay the debt service, then we'll ask those communities to, to increase their rate so that they can do that.

Yeah.

Andrew Bagley, Mr. Valley, too, both of you will start.

Andrew, we'll start with you though.

The tax base in Phillips County has been steadily eroding.

I mean you guys are up against and you're not alone.

I mean in a lot of of of smaller Arkansas cities particularly in the Delta and in South Arkansas as well are fighting the same problem.

That's a an eroding tax base absolutely and our our property tax assessments are are down.

Our sales tax receipts have had a bump during COVID but but we're steadily struggling to to hold the line there and then our customer base and our water systems is steadily dwindling until we can stop this population drain.

So there are fewer customers own on the system to to fund all these things.

So it it's going to be a huge challenge.

Now one thing that I've found through my lifetime here in Helena W Selma is that the community is, is very generous when they are confident that the funds are going to be spent in the way that they're supposed to be.

And that's going to be the difficulty for any political administration going forward is getting some confidence back in the community that the funds are going to go where we say they're going to go.

Because there there's some things that have happened with previous tax increases in the school district that have left the the, the, the community kind of jaded.

There's some frustration about how some of the federal money during COVID was allocated to labor costs and administrative costs as opposed to infrastructure.

Not that that would have been the silver bullet to get us out of this but that's going to be the challenge.

I think if the if the the political class can engender some confidence in the people of this community that it's going to be done right this community will will roll rise to the occasion Mr. Valley as it has the past.

Yeah.

Mr. Valley, it's your and the mayor's a job I mean to sell that political proposal evidently at at at the polls.

If you were to put a dedicated tax to to water and sewer, would that sell, But any tax over here going to be difficult to sell right now but it probably would if it was low.

And and and and we had specifics in terms of what we intended to do with the money.

For example, if you were going to build a new water plant or if you were going to replace the 20% galvanized pipelines we have or whatever those problems are that we have.

If you kind of specifically outline what you're going to do with the money, then you may be able to get the pack.

But this it's going to probably have to come through rate increases even though we have a smaller rate base.

We we turn a tap no matter where we live and we and we expect water to come out of it clean audible water.

What Mr. Valley, what's it been like, you know for the citizens, particularly in West hell, to have to boil their water so much of the time?

We didn't have any of that.

It's been super frustrating.

Of course my mother's on the system.

My brother, sister and and and course, the back.

Yeah, we we've kind of we've we've lost Mr. Valley for a second.

But Andrew Bagley, let me put the same question to you.

I mean, it's it's got to be just a lot of fun to put pot of water on the stove.

Well, even before that, that week that we had no water at all.

We could not shower, we could not flush a toilet.

We were literally living in developing world conditions.

Through that we all got a taste of what that is like.

And while we had water in Helena here at our office, I still had to close because our employees are on West Helen of Water and they couldn't shower, they couldn't brush their teeth, they couldn't get their kids to the babysitter and and be presentable.

So you know, we had to close and and and so there was an economic impact to this in addition to the personal impact when Sonic can't serve fountain drinks for a week that that hits their bottom line heavy.

So not only do we need to deal with this from a basic human perspective that people ought to be able to flush their toilets and take showers, we we we also have to get this system to be reliable if we're going to not lose further business in this community.

Because that the the all of our, you know, restaurant kinds of businesses took a hit during all this.

And then you're right, for three weeks after that, we had the inconvenience of having to boil the water in order to use it.

Yeah.

And and that.

And of course, after you're without it at all.

That's not so bad, I'll promise you.

But it it, it's been rough.

I mean, there's no other way to describe it.

West Helena became a third world country for a week when we were without water.

Chris Colclazier, it is it.

It's easy and maybe even convenient to look at.

Helena, West Helena right now, but one would imagine that there are communities all across Arkansas that are on the cusp of the same sort of situation, same sort of crisis that's facing Phillips County.

Yeah, we actually in in in rural Arkansas this is is it's not uncommon for systems to fail and not have a a good backup system.

So last year for example, we had two issues.

We had Eudora and Sydney that were without water and so we did the very much the same emergency process with those two communities to get them, you know, their their parts replaced and get their get their system back up and functioning.

But but if if there are communities that have deferred maintenance for a very long time, bills coming due, bills coming due.

I mean they were old systems and you know sometimes they're just being held together, you know with duct tape more or less.

And when those systems fail, you know it is a major, major hit to that community.

You think about industry, you think about just, you know, human health issues even.

Yeah, livestock issues, I mean all sorts of things.

So it's imperative that that our communities and make the proper investments in that in that infrastructure because water's pulling a few things that we take for granted.

And when you don't have it, it is a major, major issue for your community.

Yeah, sobering assessment.

Chris Cold Clasher, Andrew Bagley, James Valley.

We thank all three of it for being a part of the part of the broadcast.

We'll update the story, of course, and we'll be right back.

Then we are back with heightened awareness and precautions with vaccines, newer, better treatments.

The infection rate and the death rate from COVID has subsided.

But we should not say, cannot say that COVID went away because it did not.

We can say that it's making a comeback in Arkansas, across the nation, everywhere in our state alone, including abroad, and in our state alone.

More than 800 cases closer to 1000 were confirmed in just the previous few days.

But the experts say that number quite likely is deceptive.

The sickest COVID patients are always the most likely to be a diagnosed, and thus the actual number of infected is probably much higher.

Doctor Robert Hopkins of the University of Arkansas from Medical Sciences is here with us now.

Doctor, where are we?

Are we, are we going to have to go back to watch?

Well, we're seeing an uptick in numbers over the last two or three weeks in Arkansas.

Much is what we're seeing across the nation globally as well.

Part of that's probably related to we know that Covid's continuing to change.

We're continuing to see new variants emerging, which is what you expect with a virus when it continues to spread.

And we're not in my view at a crisis point right now.

But we have to be aware and we have to think about what can we do to minimize the risks to ourselves and to our families as we think about school, starting in the next week or two, as the weather starts to cool off, as people start thinking about football games and and other large group activities, Congregate settings became sort of the watchword of the last over the last two years.

Yeah.

What are we going to have to just reemphasize then from a clinical standpoint, what we were doing over the last certainly two years ago?

Well, I think there, there are two or three priorities that I would put in people's minds.

You know, the 1st is what you and I were raised on.

You know, it's not just about me.

You know, it's about all of our community and what can we do to help keep each other safe and healthy?

Handwashing, important from an infection prevention standpoint in general, but not a huge issue when it comes to an airborne virus like COVID-19.

If you're in close congregate settings with large groups of people, your risk of infection is much higher than if you're not in those settings.

If you have respiratory symptoms, snotty nose, cough, congestion.

Don't just say oh, it's a summertime cold, because it could be a summertime cold.

It also could be COVID, it could be one of a number of other viruses.

And as we get into fall and winter time, those other viruses become more common and we've got some tools to prevent and to treat.

What doctor do we know about these new variants?

How dangerous are they?

How severe?

Well, we don't have a lot of data to go on about the the new e.g.

Variant that is becoming most common in the United States and Europe, but it does not, to this point appear to be any more dangerous than the omicron viruses that we've been seeing for the last several months.

Most often it's causing sore throat, congestion, drainage, typical upper respiratory infection symptoms.

It does appear to be very contagious, more so than some of the others around.

We've repeated that refrain again and again, but I think the thing that concerns me as much as anything else about whatever variant is circulating right now is we don't know that having an infection with this virus is going to be benign.

We see large numbers of people reported in this country and around the world with prolonged symptoms following COVID-19, in fact, long COVID or post acute Sequela number of different names applied to that.

So I think it's incumbent on us to think about what can we do to protect ourselves from that infection.

And so if you're going to be in congregate settings, I would encourage people to at least think about #1.

Do I need to be in that congregate setting #2?

Should I be wearing a mask?

You know, are you vaccinated?

You know, our vaccination rates in Arkansas have been low to begin with.

From COVID-19.

The boosters that we gave last fall, you know, to now probably somewhere around the range of 20 to 25% at the high end have received that.

It's a lot of people without additional protection and we know those boosters reduce your risk of severe disease.

And we've got new vaccines that are likely to be available sometime in September.

Or the next question, you just got it all right.

Yeah.

And those will be slightly different than what we've used previously because they're tailored toward the variance that we've seen circulating sure recently.

It ought to be no surprise.

In fact, it isn't to you clinicians in that the urban Arkansas is where you are seeing now the uptick in cases, right?

Well, I think a lot of it's related to travel.

I think a lot of it's related to when people are in closer proximity to others, whether they're you know going to a concert or they're eating in a crowded restaurant or whether they're going out and doing things with large groups of people.

Those are higher risk settings and those in our more rural communities probably less of that congregate activity.

So you were you're seeing the cases now in Central Arkansas, we are Northwest Arkansas maybe maybe Jonesboro or up and.

Largest urban areas, we're seeing more, more numbers from those areas, but we've got higher population in those areas also.

And I think you know we've probably got a lot more out there than what our numbers are showing because we don't have a way of recording data from home testing.

And I think a number of people that that contact their healthcare providers with respiratory symptoms may or may not be tested.

You are going to be you and the clinical community are going to.

Well, let me just read some headlines if I if I can.

Here's the Atlantic.

One more COVID summer?

The Washington Post COVID uptick is here.

Good luck finding a free test.

Washington Post long COVID has derailed my life And the New York Times.

Amid signs of a COVID uptick, researchers brace for that phrase.

New normal.

Is this the new normal, Doctor, are we going to have to live with this?

Well, unfortunately, you look at, you look at our last three, 3 1/2 years.

You know the the odds are as long as we continue to have circulating virus that we're not doing adequate measures to stop.

We're going to continue to see this, this return of upticks or surges or whatever you want to call it.

And whether we're going to see gradual decline in severity, whether we're going to see decline in risk for long COVID, we don't really have a way of predicting you in the clinical community faced enormous cultural, social, even political resistance to the containment measures when when COVID was at its peak.

You note also that our Arkansas lags in terms of the overall vaccination rate certainly in terms of vaccinations up to up to the standard.

Now, do you see the fighting, this battle again, that COVID fatigue, It's real.

The fatigue is real.

And what I try to keep coming back to when I'm speaking to either groups or to individuals are two messages, you know, Number one, I'm as tired of this as anyone is, but I also try to focus on what are the, what are the things that we can do to reduce our risk.

You know, we can be better about being vaccinated.

We can recognize that these are safe and effective vaccines that are not perfect, but we have a tool that is helpful in reducing severity.

Second thing is we really have not optimized other measures to reduce transmission work on what can we do to improve indoor air quality.

You know, there's some data that shows that if you have better air exchanges, that you have better purifying of air indoors, you reduce the risk of infection.

We've had a political and social backlash against masks.

Interestingly enough, there was a political and social backlash against masks in the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Also, you know, I would much rather see your whole face than to see the top half of your face, but if it can help protect you from me and me from you, that's a small sacrifice.

There's an economic aspect of this too that's just utterly devastating and and well U AM SI think the Chancellor's indicated that the enormous cost that U AM.

S has had to shoulder in terms of dealing with with COVID patients as other health facilities across the state has created an enormous and now U AM S is having to do some cutbacks at least partially responsible to attributable to to COVID, right All we've seen tremendous economic impacts across many industries.

You know I think about all of the small restaurants and you know other indoor dining activities and seeing how many of those failed in the first couple of years of the pandemic.

I see the enormous strain of a lot of our service industry people went through you know through this pandemic increase cost that we've seen for supplies, for staff, all of those things in the healthcare industry.

So we've got to really think about how can we attack this problem without breaking everything else.

And that's where I think the the investments in trying to come back together and say what can we as a community do to reduce our risk.

I think it's important and try to take the politics and the finger pointing out of it.

Good luck.

I can hear the some of the audience saying what about the notion the concept of herd immunity is, is it even applying this to this point for COVID-19 it does not apply.

Does not.

And the reason it does not apply is as you continue to have transmission of this virus, the virus mutates or changes and so if you and I carry immunity to an original strain of the virus and it's mutated enough to escape from that immune surveillance, there's no herd immunity.

We also know that coronaviruses generally don't provide long lasting immunity after coronavirus infection, and so getting an infection and using that as a tool to protect you against future infection of coronaviruses is not a good strategy.

It's a risky strategy.

Got to leave it there, doctor, because we're simply out of time.

Come back soon and update us.

Happy to do it and that does it for us for this week.

As always, we thank you for joining us and see you next week.

Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, The Arkansas Times and KUARFM 89.