For Immediate Release

Jan. 11, 2021

Contact

John Lyon
Strategic Communications Manager
501-526-2244
jlyon@achi.net

NUMBER OF ARKANSAS SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH HIGH COMMUNITY INFECTION RATES DROPS TO 102

102 Districts Have Had 50 or More New Known COVID-19 Infections per 10K Residents Over 14 Days; Seven Districts Top 100 Infections per 10K

LITTLE ROCK ― A total of 102 Arkansas school districts have COVID-19 infection rates of 50 or more new known infections per 10,000 district residents over a 14-day period, down from 128 a week ago, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement said Thursday. Of those districts, seven have 14-day COVID-19 infection rates of 100 or more new known infections per 10,000 district residents, or more than 1% of local residents, the same number as last week.

ACHI identified school districts with high infection rates by analyzing data received Monday from the Arkansas Department of Health. The infections are among community residents living within the geographical boundaries of the school districts and are not specific to school employees and students. Known infections include confirmed and probable cases. Probable cases are based on verbal reporting and antigen test results, as identified by the Department of Health.

ACHI identifies districts with 50 to 99 new known infections per 10,000 residents as being in the “red zone” and districts with 100 or more new known infections per 10,000 residents as being in the “purple zone.” The districts are shaded in these colors on the school district map on ACHI’s COVID-19 in Arkansas web page at achi.net/covid19.

Rates of new known infections in school districts across the state, as well as counts of cumulative and new infections, are tracked on ACHI’s COVID-19 in Arkansas web page. Rates and counts are not shown for districts with fewer than five infections, to reduce the possibility of identifying individuals. School district counts do not include infections among incarcerated populations, in nursing homes, or in human development centers.

As of Monday, the following 102 school districts had a rate of at least 50 new known infections per 10,000 district residents over the previous 14 days. Twenty school districts, denoted with asterisks, were added to the list this week, and 82 remained on the list.

o   Alma
o   Arkadelphia
o   Atkins
o   Augusta
o   Barton-Lexa
o   Bauxite
o   Bearden
o   Beebe
o   Benton
o   Bergman
o   Blevins*
o   Blytheville
o   Booneville
o   Brinkley
o   Bryant
o   Cabot
o   Camden Fairview
o   Centerpoint*
o   Clarendon – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Clarksville
o   Cleveland County – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Clinton
o   Conway
o   Cossatot River*
o   Cutter-Morning Star
o   Danville – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Dardanelle
o   DeQueen*
o   Des Arc
o   DeWitt
o   Dierks*
o   Drew Central
o   East Poinsett County
o   England*
o   Eureka Springs
o   Fort Smith
o   Glen Rose – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Green Forest
o   Greenbrier
o   Guy-Perkins
o   Hackett
o   Hampton – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Harmony Grove (Clark, Dallas, and Ouachita Counties)
o   Harrison
o   Hazen – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Hector
o   Horatio*
o   Hot Springs
o   Jacksonville
o   Lafayette County
o   Lake Hamilton
o   Lakeside
o   Lamar
o   Little Rock
o   Lonoke
o   Magnolia*
o   Malvern
o   Manila
o   Marked Tree
o   Marvell*
o   Mayflower
o   McCrory – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   McGehee
o   Melbourne
o   Midland
o   Mineral Springs*
o   Mount Ida*
o   Mt. Vernon/Enola
o   Mulberry/Pleasant View*
o   Nashville
o   Nemo Vista
o   North Little Rock
o   Osceola
o   Paragould
o   Paris*
o   Pea Ridge
o   Perryville
o   Pine Bluff
o   Pocahontas*
o   Pottsville
o   Poyen
o   Pulaski County Special
o   Rector
o   Rivercrest
o   Riverview*
o   Rogers
o   Scranton
o   Searcy*
o   Sheridan*
o   Smackover
o   South Conway County
o   South Side
o   Southside*
o   Stuttgart
o   Van Buren
o   Vilonia
o   Waldron
o   Western Yell County*
o   Westside*
o   White Hall
o   Woodlawn
o   Yellville-Summit

The following 40 districts were in the red or purple zone a week earlier but have dropped below that level this week:

o   Alpena
o   Bentonville
o   Berryville
o   Carlisle
o   Cedarville
o   Charleston
o   Concord
o   County Line
o   Dumas
o   East End
o   Elkins
o   Farmington
o   Fayetteville
o   Fordyce
o   Gosnell
o   Greene County Tech
o   Greenwood
o   Hamburg
o   Hope
o   Lavaca
o   Lincoln
o   Magnet Cove
o   Marion
o   Mena
o   Monticello
o   Nettleton
o   Nevada
o   Ouachita
o   Ozark
o   Prairie Grove
o   Prescott
o   Russellville
o   Siloam Springs
o   Springdale
o   Star City
o   Trumann
o   Valley Springs
o   Warren
o   Watson Chapel
o   West Side

ACHI is a nonpartisan, independent health policy center that serves as a catalyst for improving the health of all Arkansans through evidence-based research, public issue advocacy, and collaborative program development.

###