Nineteen school districts in Arkansas are considered at high risk of coronavirus outbreaks based on the number of cases among residents within the districts' boundaries over a recent two-week span, according to information released Thursday by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.
The center's president, Joe Thompson, unveiled the data at Gov. Asa Hutchinson's daily news conference on the pandemic as the state released a new guidance document on how districts can respond to outbreaks once classes start next week.
Hutchinson and Education Secretary Johnny Key said the data and new guidance don't alter the expectation that schools will offer on-site instruction each day they normally have classes or the option for schools to shift to virtual instruction in response to outbreaks.
"This is not meant to change any of the plans for Monday starting school or whichever day of next week that a district is opening," Key said. "This gives them a tool to help planning moving forward."
The announcements came as the statewide count of coronavirus cases rose by 549, fewer than the 729 cases that were added a day earlier but still higher than the rises of just over 400 cases on Monday and Tuesday.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, rose by 10, to 641, while the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 remained 499.
The hospitalized patients included 108 who were on ventilators, down from 114 a day earlier.
After rising Wednesday, the number of cases in the state that were considered active fell by 253, to 5,666, as 792 Arkansans were newly classified as having recovered.
The state's cumulative count of cases, including those who have recovered or died, rose to 54,765.
