There are now 117 Arkansas school districts that have had 50 or more new known COVID-19 infections per 10,000 district residents over a 14-day period, up from 88 a week earlier, according to data posted today (Nov. 25) on our COVID-19 in Arkansas page. Forty-six school districts were added to the list this week, and 71 remained on the list.
Eight districts had more than 100 new known infections per 10,000 district residents over a 14-day period, or more than 1% of district residents: Bradford, Earle, Nemo Vista, Paragould, Piggott, Rector, Riverview, and White County Central. This is up from seven districts a week earlier. All but Nemo Vista are in the northeast region of the state.
Our team 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.
“These numbers indicate that we are moving into a bad place as we head into the holiday season,” said ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson. “To get us moving in the right direction, we all need to assume personal responsibility. Wash your hands often, maintain at least 6 feet of distance from people who are not members of your immediate family, and wear a mask — #BeSmartNotAfraid!”
Dr. Thompson said he urges Arkansans to rethink Thanksgiving this year.
“Don’t gather with family members if you have been exposed to COVID-19 or have cold-like symptoms,” he said. “Think about having dinner outdoors. Even better, consider connecting by phone or video conferencing with family members outside of your household. We want to keep our families safe this year so we can all be around for a more normal Thanksgiving next year.”
Recommendations for reducing the risk of spreading COVID-19 at Thanksgiving are available on our website.
Rates of new known infections in school districts across the state, as well as counts of cumulative and new infections, are tracked on our COVID-19 in Arkansas 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 117 school districts had a rate of at least 50 new known infections per 10,000 district residents, or more than 0.5% of the population, over the previous 14 days. An asterisk denotes a district that entered the list this week.
| o Alma |
| o Alpena |
| o Armorel |
| o Ashdown* |
| o Atkins |
| o Barton-Lexa* |
| o Bauxite* |
| o Bay |
| o Bearden* |
| o Beebe* |
| o Benton |
| o Bergman* |
| o Berryville* |
| o Blytheville |
| o Booneville* |
| o Bradford* – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Brookland |
| o Bryant* |
| o Buffalo Island Central |
| o Carlisle |
| o Cave City |
| o Cedar Ridge |
| o Cedarville* |
| o Clarendon* |
| o Cleveland County |
| o Corning* |
| o Cossatot River |
| o Cotter* |
| o County Line* |
| o Cross County* |
| o Cutter-Morning Star* |
| o Danville |
| o Dardanelle |
| o Dermott* |
| o DeWitt |
| o Earle – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o England* |
| o Fayetteville |
| o Flippin |
| o Fordyce* |
| o Fort Smith |
| o Gosnell |
| o Green Forest* |
| o Greene County Tech |
| o Greenwood |
| o Gurdon |
| o Guy-Perkins* |
| o Hamburg* |
| o Hampton |
| o Harmony Grove (Clark, Dallas, and Ouachita Counties)* |
| o Harmony Grove (Saline County) |
| o Harrison |
| o Hector* |
| o Highland |
| o Hillcrest |
| o Hope* |
| o Horatio* |
| o Izard County Consolidated* |
| o Jackson County |
| o Jasper |
| o Jonesboro |
| o Lake Hamilton* |
| o Lakeside* |
| o Lawrence County |
| o Lincoln* |
| o Magnet Cove |
| o Magnolia* |
| o Malvern |
| o Mammoth Spring |
| o Manila |
| o Marion* |
| o Marked Tree |
| o Marmaduke |
| o McGehee* |
| o Mena |
| o Mountain Home |
| o Mt. Vernon/Enola |
| o Mulberry/Pleasant View |
| o Nemo Vista – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Nettleton |
| o Osceola* |
| o Ouachita |
| o Ouachita River* |
| o Ozark Mountain* |
| o Paragould – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Paris |
| o Piggott – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Pocahontas |
| o Pottsville* |
| o Prairie Grove |
| o Prescott* |
| o Rector – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Riverside |
| o Riverview – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Rose Bud |
| o Russellville* |
| o Salem* |
| o Scranton |
| o Searcy |
| o Sheridan* |
| o Sloan-Hendrix |
| o South Conway County |
| o South Pike County* |
| o Springdale |
| o Trumann |
| o Valley Springs |
| o Valley View |
| o Van Buren |
| o Viola* |
| o Waldron |
| o West Fork* |
| o Western Yell County |
| o Westside Consolidated |
| o White County Central – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o White Hall |
| o Wynne* |
| o Yellville-Summit |
Seventeen districts that were in the red zone a week earlier have dropped below that level this week: Bentonville, De Queen, Des Arc, East Poinsett County, Farmington, Glen Rose, Hazen, Lavaca, Mountain Pine, Mountainburg, Newport, Norfork, Omaha, Poyen, Rogers, Siloam Springs, and Wonderview.
