LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Friday, March 11, marks two years since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Arkansas, and what a two years it's been.
Little did we know at the time of the governor's first news conference, right here, just how bad it would get.
But two years on, there are new signs this morning that we may finally be coming out of this pandemic.
First, let's take a look at how far we've come.
THV11 has been tracking COVID-19 cases on this chart since the very first day of the pandemic in Arkansas two years ago.
You can clearly see the three waves we've experienced. The first after Christmas 2020, the second in fall of last year as kids returned to school and the most recent and the most severe this past winter.
Where we nearly reached 15,000 new cases in a single day.
But now, the CDC said almost all of Arkansas counties are now at a low or medium level for COVID-19.
That's an important drop, as a lot of the latest mask guidance is based on this map.
In the counties in green and yellow, low-risk people can go mask-free indoors.
But, anyone at high-risk for severe illness, may still want to mask up.
Same goes if you start having symptoms, a positive test, or if you're exposed to someone with COVID-19.