For Immediate Release

Aug. 26, 2021

Contact

Sandra McGrew
Director of External Affairs
(501) 526-2244
smcgrew@achi.net

RECORD-TYING NUMBER OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN RED ZONE ON ACHI’S COVID-19 MAPACHI BOARD URGES RENEWED VIGILANCE AGAINST COVID-19 AMID RISE OF DELTA VARIANT, LOW VACCINATION RATE IN STATE

201 Districts Have Had 50 or More New Known COVID-19 Infections per 10K Residents over 14 Days; 42 Top 100 Infections per 10K

LITTLE ROCK ― A record-tying 201 Arkansas 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 one from last week and equaling the high set in January, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement said Thursday. The information is based on Arkansas Department of Health data obtained Monday.

Among those 201 districts, 42 have 14-day COVID-19 infection rates of 100 or more new known infections per 10,000 district residents, or more than 1% of residents.

The local-level COVID-19 data 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.

“The current surge of the more infectious delta variant is cause for alarm,” said ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson. “This is not about individual freedoms and liberties but about the need for us all to act together to protect our children’s safety.

“We are fighting a new virus in the delta variant — one that is more infectious and is attacking our children and young adults. I commend those school boards that have done the right thing and issued mask requirements in schools, so far.”

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 dashboard showing COVID-19 vaccination rates by public school district, which debuted yesterday, using ADH data current as of Monday, Aug. 23. This new interactive web feature is the product of a partnership between ACHI and the Arkansas Department of Health and can be found on ACHI’s COVID-19 in Arkansas web page at achi.net/covid19.

As of Monday, the following 201 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   Alpena
o   Armorel
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
o   Bald Knob – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Barton-Lexa – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Batesville
o   Bauxite – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Bay
o   Beebe
o   Benton
o   Bentonville
o   Bergman – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Berryville
o   Bismarck
o   Blevins*
o   Blytheville
o   Booneville – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Bradford
o   Brinkley – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Brookland – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Bryant
o   Buffalo Island Central
o   Cabot
o   Caddo Hills
o   Carlisle
o   Cave City
o   Cedar Ridge
o   Cedarville
o   Centerpoint
o   Charleston
o   Clarendon
o   Clarksville
o   Cleveland County
o   Clinton
o   Concord
o   Conway
o   Corning
o   Cossatot River
o   Cotter – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   County Line – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Cross County
o   Crossett
o   Cutter-Morning Star – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Danville*
o   Dardanelle
o   Decatur
o   Deer-Mt. Judea
o   DeQueen
o   Dermott
o   Des Arc – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   DeWitt – 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   Dumas
o   Earle
o   East End
o   East Poinsett County
o   Elkins
o   Emerson-Taylor-Bradley
o   England
o   Eureka Springs
o   Farmington
o   Fayetteville
o   Flippin – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Fordyce
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
o   Greene County Tech
o   Greenland
o   Greenwood
o   Gurdon
o   Hackett
o   Hamburg
o   Harmony Grove (Saline County)
o   Harrisburg – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Harrison
o   Hazen
o   Heber Springs
o   Hector
o   Helena-West Helena – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Highland
o   Hillcrest*
o   Hope
o   Horatio
o   Hot Springs
o   Hoxie*
o   Huntsville – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Izard County Consolidated
o   Jackson County
o   Jacksonville
o   Jasper*
o   Jessieville
o   Jonesboro – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Kirby*
o   Lafayette County
o   Lake Hamilton
o   Lakeside
o   Lakeside #1*
o   Lamar
o   Lavaca – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Lawrence County
o   Lead Hill
o   Lee County
o   Lincoln
o   Little Rock
o   Lonoke
o   Magazine – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Magnet Cove – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Magnolia
o   Malvern – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Manila
o   Marion
o   Marked Tree
o   Marmaduke
o   Mayflower
o   Maynard*
o   McCrory – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Melbourne – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Mena
o   Midland – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Mineral Springs
o   Monticello
o   Mount Ida
o   Mountain Home
o   Mountain Pine – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Mountain View
o   Mt. Vernon-Enola – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Nashville
o   Nettleton – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Newport
o   Norfork
o   North Little Rock
o   Osceola
o   Ouachita – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Ozark Mountain*
o   Ozark – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Palestine-Wheatley
o   Pangburn
o   Paragould – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Paris
o   Pea Ridge
o   Perryville
o   Piggott
o   Pine Bluff
o   Pocahontas
o   Pottsville
o   Poyen
o   Prairie Grove
o   Pulaski County Special
o   Quitman – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Rector
o   Rivercrest*
o   Riverside
o   Riverview
o   Rogers
o   Rose Bud – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Russellville
o   Salem
o   Scranton
o   Searcy
o   Searcy County
o   Sheridan
o   Shirley
o   Siloam Springs
o   Sloan-Hendrix
o   South Conway County
o   South Pike County
o   South Side
o   Southside
o   Spring Hill*
o   Springdale
o   Star City
o   Stuttgart – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents
o   Texarkana
o   Trumann
o   Two Rivers
o   Valley Springs
o   Valley View
o   Van Buren
o   Vilonia
o   Watson Chapel
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   White Hall
o   Wonderview
o   Wynne
o   Yellville-Summit – rate of 100 or more new known infections per 10K residents

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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