ARKANSAS, USA — According to a report by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, 42 Arkansas school districts have had 50 or more confirmed COVID-19 cases per 10,000 district residents over a two week period, which is what health officials describe as a "red zone."
A total of 23 new red zone districts were added this week to the state's list, a number that almost doubles the previous week's total of twenty-six.
ACHI was able to identify the red zones based on data released by the Arkansas Department of Health, which included known and probable positive COVID-19 case numbers.
The number of confirmed positive cases within the districts are counted among the "district residents," or community members living within the boundaries of the school district, not just students and staff of the districts themselves.
“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 in the report released on Oct. 22.
“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.
Below, you will find a list of school districts that reported 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.
ACHI's full report School Districts in ‘Red Zone’ for New COVID-19 Infections in Community Now at 42