The number of Arkansas school districts with 50 or more COVID-19 cases has shot up by 16 compared to last week.
The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement reports that 42 school districts are now “red zones,” or have 50 or more COVID infections per 10,000 district residents in a 14-day period. Last week, ACHI reported that 26 school districts were red zones – this marks an increase of 16 districts in the last week.
Red zone numbers have steadily increased in recent weeks. The number of red zones has more than tripled since ACHI reported 13 red zones in early October.
In total, 23 of the red zone school district are new to the ACHI list. The districts that are new to the red zone list include Blytheville School District, Brinkley School District, Buffalo Island Central School District, Concord Public Schools, Dierks School District, Greene County Technical School District, Greenwood School District, Harrisburg School District, Helena-West Helena School District, Hillcrest School District, Jonesboro Public Schools, Manila School District, Marmaduke School District, Maynard School District, Nevada School District, Ouachita School District, Paragould School District, Pocahontas School District, Riverside School District, Scranton School District, Searcy School District, Trumann Schools, and Valley View School District.
Nineteen of the schools had remained on the list from the previous week’s list. These schools include Armorel School District, Barton-Lexa School District, Brookland School District, Clarendon School District, Corning Public Schools, Deer/Mount Judea School District, Hoxie School District, Jackson County School District, Lawrence County School District, Mammoth Spring Schools, Marked Tree School District, Mulberry School District, Nettleton School District, Ozark School District, Paris School District, Sloan-Hendrix School District, Spring Hill School District, and Westside Consolidated School District.
Seven school districts dropped of the red zone from the previous list. These school districts include Berryville, Cedar Ridge, County Line, DeWitt, Newport, Stuttgart and Viola.
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