COVID-19 in Arkansas: A Weekly Snapshot, Nov. 14”’20, 2020

New daily cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas exceeded 1,000 on five days this week, and Thursday’s new case count of 2,238 is the second highest since the pandemic began. In an effort to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases “as a result of prolonged social interaction in group settings,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced a new Arkansas Department of Health directive requiring bars, restaurants, and clubs with on-premise permits that sell and allow consumption of alcohol on their premises to close by 11 p.m. This directive, which went into effect on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, is a recommendation by the Winter COVID-19 Task Force and will continue through Jan. 3, 2021.

According to the Arkansas Department of Health’s Educational Institutions Report released Thursday, there are 2,559 active cases among staff members, students, and teachers in the state’s public school districts. Total positive cases increased by 1,249 since the Monday report to 13,589, of which 9,329 are student cases.

At colleges and universities, there are 766 active cases. The three institutions with the most active cases are:

• University of Arkansas in Fayetteville with 152 cases
• Harding University in Searcy with 89 cases
• University of Central Arkansas in Conway with 51 cases

Total positive cases increased by 387 since the Monday report to 7,785 cases. Of these, 6,009 are student cases.

Some of the known football playoff cancellations announced this week due to COVID-19 include:

• Waldron at Nashville
• Smackover at Harding Academy

On our COVID-19 in Arkansas page this week, the COVID-19: Local Data dashboard has been updated with data current through Monday, Nov. 16. Some key data points:

By School District

There are 88 school districts with high new infection rates this week — 81 in the red zone and seven in the purple zone. School districts in the red zone have 50 to 99 new known infections per 10,000 community residents during a 14-day period, as of Nov. 16. School districts in the purple zone have 100 or more new known infections per 10,000 community residents, or at least 1% of residents, during the same period.

The districts in red or purple zones are:

• Cedar Ridge: 349 new known infections per 10K residents
• Ouachita: 144 new known infections per 10K residents
• Armorel: 141 new known infections per 10K residents
• Earle: 115 new known infections per 10K residents
• White County Central: 114 new known infections per 10K residents
• Manila: 112 new known infections per 10K residents
• Rector: 102 new known infections per 10K residents
• Piggott: 99 new known infections per 10K residents
• Bay: 98 new known infections per 10K residents
• Trumann: 96 new known infections per 10K residents
• Hampton: 93 new known infections per 10K residents
• Jasper: 88 new known infections per 10K residents
• Paragould: 86 new known infections per 10K residents
• Cossatot River: 86 new known infections per 10K residents
• Nemo Vista: 85 new known infections per 10K residents
• Norfork: 82 new known infections per 10K residents
• Paris: 80 new known infections per 10K residents
• Greene County Tech: 80 new known infections per 10K residents
• Blytheville: 80 new known infections per 10K residents
• Jackson County: 79 new known infections per 10K residents
• Western Yell County: 78 new known infections per 10K residents
• Westside Consolidated: 77 new known infections per 10K residents
• Nettleton: 77 new known infections per 10K residents
• Alpena: 77 new known infections per 10K residents
• Searcy: 76 new known infections per 10K residents
• Omaha: 76 new known infections per 10K residents
• Jonesboro: 76 new known infections per 10K residents
• Mountain Pine: 75 new known infections per 10K residents
• Hillcrest: 75 new known infections per 10K residents
• East Poinsett County: 74 new known infections per 10K residents
• Springdale: 73 new known infections per 10K residents
• Riverview: 73 new known infections per 10K residents
• Mulberry/Pleasant View: 71 new known infections per 10K residents
• Hazen: 71 new known infections per 10K residents
• Brookland: 71 new known infections per 10K residents
• Riverside: 70 new known infections per 10K residents
• Mena: 69 new known infections per 10K residents
• Greenwood: 69 new known infections per 10K residents
• Waldron: 68 new known infections per 10K residents
• Magnet Cove: 67 new known infections per 10K residents
• Fort Smith: 67 new known infections per 10K residents
• Sloan-Hendrix: 66 new known infections per 10K residents
• Mountainburg: 65 new known infections per 10K residents
• DeQueen: 65 new known infections per 10K residents
• Newport: 64 new known infections per 10K residents
• Marked Tree: 64 new known infections per 10K residents
• Des Arc: 64 new known infections per 10K residents
• Flippin: 63 new known infections per 10K residents
• Siloam Springs: 61 new known infections per 10K residents
• DeWitt: 61 new known infections per 10K residents
• Yellville-Summit: 60 new known infections per 10K residents
• Dardanelle: 60 new known infections per 10K residents
• South Conway County: 59 new known infections per 10K residents
• Vernon/Enola*: 59 new known infections per 10K residents
• Mammoth Spring: 59 new known infections per 10K residents
• Highland: 59 new known infections per 10K residents
• Harrison: 59 new known infections per 10K residents
• Scranton: 58 new known infections per 10K residents
• Poyen: 58 new known infections per 10K residents
• Harmony Grove (Saline County): 58 new known infections per 10K residents
• Valley View: 57 new known infections per 10K residents
• Mountain Home: 57 new known infections per 10K residents
• Gosnell: 57 new known infections per 10K residents
• Danville: 57 new known infections per 10K residents
• Cave City: 57 new known infections per 10K residents
• Benton: 57 new known infections per 10K residents
• Alma: 57 new known infections per 10K residents
• Valley Springs: 56 new known infections per 10K residents
• Rose Bud: 56 new known infections per 10K residents
• Carlisle: 56 new known infections per 10K residents
• Van Buren: 55 new known infections per 10K residents
• Marmaduke: 55 new known infections per 10K residents
• Pocahontas: 53 new known infections per 10K residents
• Malvern: 53 new known infections per 10K residents
• Lawrence County: 53 new known infections per 10K residents
• Cleveland County: 53 new known infections per 10K residents
• Wonderview: 52 new known infections per 10K residents
• Farmington: 52 new known infections per 10K residents
• Atkins: 52 new known infections per 10K residents
• Lavaca: 51 new known infections per 10K residents
• Gurdon: 51 new known infections per 10K residents
• Fayetteville: 51 new known infections per 10K residents
• Bentonville: 51 new known infections per 10K residents
• White Hall: 50 new known infections per 10K residents
• Rogers: 50 new known infections per 10K residents
• Prairie Grove: 50 new known infections per 10K residents
• Glen Rose: 50 new known infections per 10K residents
• Buffalo Island Central: 50 new known infections per 10K residents

Twenty-six high schools in red-zone school districts have scheduled football games tonight (Nov. 20). Ten of these schools are scheduled to play each other.