97 SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN RED OR PURPLE ZONES ON ACHI MAP FOR NEW COVID-19 INFECTIONS

LITTLE ROCK ― Ninety-seven of Arkansas’s 234 contiguous public 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 225 last week, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement said Thursday, citing its analysis of Arkansas Department of Health data current as of Monday.

ACHI’s latest update of the school districts map on its COVID-19 dashboard, available at achi.net/covid19, shows that 94 districts are shaded red to signify 14-day infection rates of 50 to 99 new known infections per 10,000 residents, down from 109 last week, and three districts are shaded purple to signify 14-day infection rates of 100 to 199 new known infections per 10,000 residents, or at least 1% of the local population, down from 114 last week. No district is shaded pink for a 14-day infection rate of 200 or more new known infections per 10,000 residents, or at least 2% of the local population, down from two last week.

“It’s important to keep in mind that Arkansans have obtained more than a million at-home tests, and the results of most of those tests are not being reported to the Department of Health,” said ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson. “That means we are undercounting infections. The omicron surge does appear to be receding, but the virus is still present in all our communities, and we need to continue using all available tools to fight it: vaccination, good hand hygiene, social distancing, mask wearing in public places where social distancing cannot be maintained, and the best possible ventilation.”

ACHI also updated vaccination rates on its dashboard, using Department of Health data current as of Monday. Twenty-five school districts have achieved vaccination rates of at least 50% of district residents, and of those, two have achieved vaccination rates of 60% or more: Bentonville at 62% and Eureka Springs at 60%. The Department of Health’s vaccinations counts include people who have received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine; they do not take into account whether people have received booster shots, which are required for maximum protection against the omicron variant.

Districts with 14-day COVID-19 infection rates of 50 or more new known infections per 10,000 district residents are as follows:

o Arkadelphia
o Atkins
o Barton-Lexa
o Bay
o Bearden
o Bergman
o Bismarck
o Blevins
o Booneville
o Brookland
o Bryant
o Buffalo Island Central
o Camden Fairview
o Carlisle
o Cave City
o Cedar Ridge
o Cedarville
o Concord
o Conway
o Corning
o Crossett
o Decatur
o DeWitt
o Dover
o Drew Central
o East End
o East Poinsett County
o Elkins
o Farmington
o Fayetteville
o Fort Smith
o Glen Rose
o Greenbrier
o Greene County Tech
o Greenland
o Gurdon
o Hamburg
o Hampton
o Harmony Grove (Clark, Dallas, and Ouachita Counties) – rate of 100 to 199 new known infections per 10K residents
o Harrisburg
o Heber Springs
o Highland
o Hoxie
o Izard County Consolidated
o Jackson County
o Jacksonville
o Lawrence County
o Little Rock
o Malvern
o Marked Tree
o Marmaduke
o Mayflower
o McCrory
o McGehee
o Mena
o Midland
o Monticello
o Mountain View
o Mulberry-Pleasant View
o Nemo Vista
o Newport
o Osceola
o Ouachita – rate of 100 to 199 new known infections per 10K residents
o Paragould
o Paris
o Pea Ridge
o Perryville
o Piggott
o Prairie Grove
o Prescott
o Pulaski County Special
o Rector
o Rivercrest
o Riverside – rate of 100 to 199 new known infections per 10K residents
o Russellville
o Searcy
o Searcy County
o Sheridan
o Shirley
o Sloan-Hendrix
o South Conway County
o South Pike County
o South Side
o Star City
o Stuttgart
o Trumann
o Two Rivers
o Vilonia
o Waldron
o Warren
o West Fork
o Western Yell County
o Westside Consolidated
o White County Central
o White Hall
o Woodlawn
o Yellville-Summit

The infection rates reported by ACHI are based on infections among community residents living within the geographical boundaries of each school district and not only on cases among 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. Reported rates do not include complete results from at-home testing, thus the true level of infections is likely higher than that reported.

Infection rates and counts are not reported for districts with fewer than five reported 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.

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.

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