Forty-two Arkansas school districts have had 50 or more new known COVID-19 infections per 10,000 district residents over a 14-day period, up from 26 a week earlier, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement said Thursday. Twenty-three new school districts were added, a count nearly equal to the previous week’s total. Nineteen school districts remained on the list.
ACHI identified school districts in the “red zone” for infections 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 cases and probable cases based on verbal reporting and antigen test results, as identified by the Department of Health.
In five school districts — all of them in Northeast Arkansas — more than 1% of the population have new known infections: Lawrence County, Marked Tree, Mammoth Spring, Sloan-Hendrix and Hoxie.
“This virus is an invisible and serious threat, and we’re seeing its continued spread across our state,” said ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson. “Infections in our communities threaten our schools, and there are more reports of young, healthy individuals who are impacted by COVID-19. This is the time to be smart and not afraid. Take precautions to safeguard your family. Wear a mask, stay distanced and wash your hands. These are the most effective tools we have to stop the spread of this virus at this time.”
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.
The following 42 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, for the period of Oct. 5 through Oct. 19. An asterisk denotes a district that entered the red zone this week.
- Armorel School District
- Barton-Lexa School District
- Blytheville School District*
- Brinkley School District*
- Brookland School District
- Buffalo Island Central School District*
- Clarendon School District
- Concord Public Schools*
- Corning Public Schools
- Deer/Mount Judea School District
- Dierks School District*
- Green Forest School District
- Greene County Technical School District*
- Greenwood School District*
- Harrisburg School District*
- Helena-West Helena School District*
- Hillcrest School District*
- Hoxie School District
- Jackson County School District
- Jonesboro Public Schools*
- Lawrence County School District
- Mammoth Spring Schools
- Manila School District*
- Marked Tree School District
- Marmaduke School District*
- Maynard School District*
- Mulberry School District
- Nettleton School District
- Nevada School District*
- Ouachita School District*
- Ozark School District
- Paragould School District*
- Paris School District
- Pocahontas School District*
- Riverside School District*
- Scranton School District*
- Searcy School District*
- Sloan-Hendrix School District
- Spring Hill School District
- Trumann Schools*
- Valley View School District*
- Westside Consolidated School District
Seven districts that were in the red zone a week earlier, Berryville, Cedar Ridge, County Line, DeWitt, Newport, Stuttgart and Viola, have dropped below that level in this week’s data.
