For Immediate Release
Sept. 9, 2021
Contact
John Lyon
Strategic Communications Manager
501-526-2244
jlyon@achi.net
NUMBER OF ‘PURPLE ZONE’ ARKANSAS SCHOOL DISTRICTS REACHES ALL-TIME HIGH
59 Districts Have Had 100 or More New Known COVID-19 Infections per 10K Residents Over 14 Days, a Pandemic Record
LITTLE ROCK ― Fifty-nine Arkansas public school districts have COVID-19 infection rates of 100 or more new known infections per 10,000 district residents, or at least 1% of residents, over a 14-day period, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement said Thursday. This is up from 41 last week and an all-time high, surpassing the previous high of 54 from the week of Jan. 11.
ACHI said 189 school districts have COVID-19 infection rates of 50 or more new known infections per 10,000 district residents over a 14-day period, up from 188 last week. The information is based on Arkansas Department of Health data obtained Monday.
The school district-level information, along with other local-level data on infection and vaccination rates, can be found on ACHI’s COVID-19 in Arkansas web page at achi.net/covid19. On ACHI’s map of Arkansas school districts, a district with 50 to 99 new known infections per 10,000 residents is shaded red, and a district with 100 or more new known infections per 10,000 residents is shaded purple. The color-shading of a district is based on infections among community residents living within the geographical boundaries of each school district and not on cases among school employees and students.
“We continue to see more communities exceed 1% of their population newly infected with COVID-19. These numbers reflect the risk in the communities from which students, teachers, and staff come each day,” said ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson. “We must do more to protect our children from the delta variant. Everyone who is still unprotected should get vaccinated as soon as possible, bearing in mind that people who are too young for vaccines are relying on the rest of us to keep them safe. I also urge schools boards that have rejected mask requirements to rethink that position, and I urge parents to support their local school boards.”
Known infections reported by ACHI include confirmed and probable cases. Probable cases are based on verbal reporting and antigen test results, as identified by the Department of Health.
Infection rates and counts are not shown 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 also updated its maps and tables displaying COVID-19 vaccination rates by public school district, community, and ZIP code, using ADH data current as of Monday. For the first time, one school district, Bentonville, reached a 50% vaccination rate among district residents this week. This information is the product of a partnership between ACHI and the Arkansas Department of Health.
As of Monday, the following 189 school districts had a rate of at least 50 new known infections per 10,000 district residents over the previous 14 days. An asterisk indicates that a district is new to the list this week.
| o Alma |
| o Arkadelphia* |
| o Ashdown – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Atkins – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Augusta – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Bald Knob |
| o Barton-Lexa – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Batesville |
| o Bauxite |
| o Bay |
| o Beebe |
| o Benton |
| o Bentonville |
| o Bergman |
| o Berryville |
| o Bismarck* |
| o Blytheville |
| o Booneville – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Bradford* |
| o Brookland – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Bryant |
| o Buffalo Island Central – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Cabot |
| o Caddo Hills – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Camden Fairview* |
| o Cave City |
| o Cedar Ridge |
| o Cedarville |
| o Centerpoint – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Charleston |
| o Clarendon |
| o Clarksville – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Cleveland County |
| o Concord |
| o Conway |
| o Corning – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Cossatot River |
| o County Line – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Cross County |
| o Crossett |
| o Cutter-Morning Star |
| o Danville |
| o Dardanelle – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Deer-Mt. Judea |
| o De Queen |
| o Dermott |
| o Des Arc |
| o DeWitt |
| o Dierks – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Dover – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Earle* |
| o East End |
| o East Poinsett County – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o El Dorado* |
| o Elkins |
| o Emerson-Taylor-Bradley |
| o Eureka Springs* |
| o Farmington |
| o Fayetteville |
| o Flippin |
| o Foreman |
| o Forrest City |
| o Fort Smith |
| o Fouke |
| o Fountain Lake |
| o Gentry |
| o Glen Rose – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Gosnell |
| o Gravette |
| o Green Forest |
| o Greenbrier – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Greene County Tech – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Greenland |
| o Greenwood |
| o Gurdon |
| o Guy-Perkins |
| o Hackett – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Hamburg – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Harrisburg – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Harrison |
| o Hazen |
| o Heber Springs – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Hector – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Helena-West Helena – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Hermitage – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Highland* |
| o Hope |
| o Horatio* |
| o Hot Springs |
| o Hoxie – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Huntsville – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Jackson County |
| o Jacksonville |
| o Jasper |
| o Jessieville* |
| o Jonesboro – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Junction City – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Kirby – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Lafayette County |
| o Lamar |
| o Lavaca |
| o Lawrence County – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Lincoln |
| o Magazine – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Magnet Cove |
| o Magnolia |
| o Malvern |
| o Mammoth Spring* |
| o Manila – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Mansfield |
| o Marion |
| o Marked Tree |
| o Marmaduke – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Marvell* |
| o Mayflower |
| o Maynard |
| o McCrory – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o McGehee* |
| o Mena |
| o Midland |
| o Mineral Springs – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Monticello |
| o Mountain Pine |
| o Mountain View* |
| o Mountainburg |
| o Mt. Vernon-Enola – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Mulberry-Pleasant View – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Nashville |
| o Nemo Vista – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Nettleton – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Nevada |
| o Newport |
| o Omaha* |
| o Osceola – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Ouachita – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Ouachita River* |
| o Ozark – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Ozark Mountain |
| o Paragould – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Paris |
| o Parkers Chapel |
| o Pea Ridge |
| o Perryville |
| o Piggott – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Pine Bluff |
| o Pocahontas – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Pottsville – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Poyen – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Prairie Grove – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Prescott |
| o Quitman – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Rector |
| o Rivercrest |
| o Riverside – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Riverview |
| o Rogers |
| o Rose Bud – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Russellville |
| o Searcy |
| o Searcy County |
| o Sheridan |
| o Siloam Springs |
| o Sloan-Hendrix |
| o Smackover* |
| o South Conway County |
| o South Pike County |
| o Southside |
| o Spring Hill |
| o Springdale |
| o Stuttgart |
| o Texarkana |
| o Trumann |
| o Two Rivers – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Valley Springs* |
| o Valley View |
| o Van Buren |
| o Vilonia |
| o Waldron – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Warren |
| o West Fork – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o West Memphis |
| o West Side* |
| o Western Yell County – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Westside |
| o Westside Consolidated – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o White County Central – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents |
| o Wonderview |
| o Wynne |
| o Yellville-Summit |
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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