The number of covid-19 patients in Arkansas hospitals rose to a record high of 613 on Monday, even as the number of active cases of the virus fell for the first time in nearly a week.
The number of new cases of the virus -- which topped 1,000 on three separate days last week -- was reported at 531 by the Arkansas Department of Health.
Still, last week's surge of cases appeared to be having a lingering effect on the number of hospitalizations. The number of hospitalized patients rose by 41 Monday, while the number of patients on ventilators rose by two, to 99.
"We believe these hospitalizations are likely tied to last week's cases," Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the state epidemiologist, said in a statement. "We don't have data as to when they first became ill, but it usually takes about a week for a person's symptoms to progress to a severity that would require hospitalization. Anytime we have a large number of cases, there is usually a week or so delay in the rise of associated hospitalizations."
Another 10 people were reported to have died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 1,714, according to the Health Department.
Assessing the numbers on Monday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson expressed optimism based on the decreasing number of new cases.
"We saw another decrease in new cases yesterday, and I am hopeful that the cases will stay low through the week," Hutchinson said in a statement. "I applaud our students and educators for reducing the active cases in our schools. Let's stay vigilant, and while cases usually go up in the next four days, let's remember that it is up to each of us to do our part to help slow this virus and protect ourselves, our family, and our neighbors."
With recoveries outpacing new cases, the number of active cases in the state fell to 8,658, breaking a streak of five consecutive days of increases in the number of active cases. Still, there remained 941 more active cases on Monday than when the streak began.
The new cases reported Monday were based on the results from 8,918 lab-confirmed tests and 803 antigen tests.
The counties reporting the most new confirmed cases were Pulaski County, with 53 cases; Craighead County, with 45 cases; Washington County, with 25 cases; Sebastian County, with 24 cases; and Benton County, with 23 cases.
The state is poised to pass the cumulative 100,000-case threshold today. As of Monday, a total of 99,597 Arkansans had tested positive or were believed to have contracted the virus since the beginning of the pandemic.
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SCHOOL CASES
According to a Health Department report released Monday, 57 school districts had five or more active infections among employees and students, down one from what was reported Thursday.
But the number of cases among students in public schools increased by 271, to a cumulative 5,041, while the number of staff members who tested positive for the virus grew by 143, to a cumulative 1,886.
Those cases considered active among students and staff members dropped by 11, to 879.
The Springdale School District has the highest number of active cases, with 50. Following is the Rogers School District, with 31 active covid-19 cases, and the Little Rock district, with 30 active cases.
The Springdale School District has had a cumulative number of 226 students and 63 faculty and staff members test positive for the virus, the highest in the state. By comparison, the Little Rock district has had a total of 183 students and 50 employees test positive.
The Pine Bluff School District, with 3,000 students, has had one of the lowest numbers of cases in the state, with 47 students and 28 employees who have tested positive for the virus. There are now five active cases in the district, according to the Health Department report.
The district's athletic director, Cheryl Hatley, posted a strongly worded notice Monday to the district's website warning football players and fans that the district has a "Zero Tolerance" plan, writing in all-caps, highlighted in yellow, "NO MORE WARNINGS."
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Among the requirements are that masks be worn for game entry and remain on, that social distancing of 6 feet be followed, that there be no congregating and no unnecessary walking, and that fans remain seated in the stands. Violators will be removed from the stadium, Hatley warned.
"No 2nd Chances with this or any of these rules," she said.
In its weekly coronavirus update released Monday, the Little Rock School District reported that 79 students and 34 employees were in quarantine for covid-19, and that 12 students and eight staff members tested positive for the virus last week.
In its daily report, the Little Rock district logged 26 individuals in quarantine and five positive cases on Monday.
Schools in the district with students who were either quarantined or had tested positive for the virus included Central High, David O. Dodd Elementary, Forest Heights STEM, Mabelvale Elementary, Meadowcliff Elementary, Otter Creek Elementary, Pulaski Heights Middle, Don R. Roberts Elementary, Wakefield Elementary and Washington Elementary.
TEACHERS SICKENED
According to Monday's report, 1,886 teachers and employees in the state's public school districts have contracted covid-19.
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In the Palestine-Wheatley School District, administrators asked on social media Sunday for prayers for music teacher Jimmy Hynum, who, along with his wife, Angie Hynum, an English teacher in the district, tested positive for covid-19.
According to a post on the Facebook page of Arkansans for Safe Public Schools, Jimmy Hynum was placed on a ventilator Saturday.
"Please pray for them, Jimmy and Angie Hynum, that they may return to their 'Babies' soon," Jeannie Bormann wrote in the post. "They have no children of their own. They devotedly call every student they have had in Palestine-Wheatley and Brinkley their own."
The Palestine-Wheatley School District is not listed on the current Health Department report for schools with five or more active covid-19 cases.
The Watson Chapel School District announced on its Facebook page on Friday that first-grade teacher Angela Francis, 43, lost her battle with covid-19.
Francis was "very passionate, sweet as could be, firm and consistent," said Alexandria Krystal in a comment on the Facebook post.
"She loved her school babies and it showed," Krystal said.
Francis was born in Pine Bluff and graduated from White Hall High School, according to an obituary from Robinson & Fuller White Hall Funeral Chapel. She earned her elementary education degree from Henderson State University.
She left behind a husband and two daughters.
According to the obituary, Francis had a "quick wit, great sense of humor and an infectious laugh that usually ended in a series of joyful snorts. If you heard her laugh once, you would never forget it. She had a kind heart and a loving spirit."
Francis had been employed by the Watson Chapel School District for 14 years as a kindergarten teacher, then a first-grade teacher.
"She was an amazing teacher, unafraid to think outside the box and was able to shift gears on a dime when necessary. She was invested in making a difference in the lives of her students," according to the obituary. "Teaching was not just a job for Angie, it was her passion. She always went above and beyond to help her students succeed no matter what roadblocks were put in her way."
The Watson Chapel School District is not listed on the current Health Department report for schools with five or more active covid-19 cases.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Harding University in Searcy continued to report the highest number of active cases of the virus among the state's higher-education institutions. However, the 75 active cases reported Monday were 17 fewer cases than were reported on Thursday.
A total of 237 students, faculty and staff members have tested positive at the private Christian university since June, according to a report published by the Department of Health on Monday.
Arkansas Tech, a public university in Russellville, reported the largest increase in active cases since Thursday, 15, going from 26 to 41 active cases.
Tech has reported 293 students, faculty and staff members as having tested positive for the virus since June.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville reported four new cases of the virus on Monday. The number of active cases at the state's largest university -- as tracked by the Health Department -- rose by one since Thursday, to a total of 49.
A total of 2,167 students, faculty and staff members have tested positive at UA-Fayetteville since June.
Arkansas State University reported a decrease in active cases over the weekend. The numbers reported by the university's Jonesboro campus -- which include vendors and contractors and differ from the Health Department's numbers -- fell by one since Friday, to 43.
The University of Central Arkansas in Conway reported having 42 active cases of the virus on Monday, down 11 from Thursday, according to the Health Department.
A total of 332 UCA students, faculty and staff members have tested positive for the virus since June.
CORRECTIONS CASES
A spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Corrections said Monday that a male prisoner convicted of rape and serving a 210-year sentence at the Bowie County Correctional Center in Texas died at a hospital in Texarkana while being treated for covid-19.
The Department of Corrections has a contract to house inmates at the Texas jail, which is operated by LaSalle Corrections.
JAIL OUTBREAK
Three employees and 31 inmates at the Washington County jail in Fayetteville tested positive for covid-19 in the past week.
Capt. Alan Johnson with the sheriff's office said the recent spike in positive tests began with employees tested Oct. 12.
"We had some officers who were showing symptoms," Johnson said. "They tested positive, and the Health Department did contact tracing. The department tested 190 detainees who were in our quarantine blocks, and that is where the 31 detainees who tested positive were located. None were in our general population."
He said all employees and inmates in the general population will be tested, and results are expected by the end of the week.
Johnson said the office is waiting on the test results and the contact tracing reports to try to determine how the virus entered the facility.
"If we have positive tests in the general population, then it's likely it was brought in by an employee," Johnson said. "If not, I would say the most likely situation is that it was brought in by one of the detainees."
After the pandemic was declared a health emergency in mid-March, the sheriff's office instituted a program of testing, monitoring and quarantining arrivals at the jail. The office has worked with prosecutors and judges to release some inmates and issue more felony citations in lieu of taking prisoners to the jail, in order to reduce the jail population and minimize the risk of the virus spreading inside the facility. Employees are screened at the beginning of each shift.
The inmate population was more than 800 in February. The jail population was 503 on Monday.
RECENT DEATHS
On Friday, Mark Fields, a 58-year-old mentor at the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center in Alexander, died while undergoing treatment for covid-19 at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock.
Fields had been admitted to the hospital for shortness of breath on Sept. 17, according to a coroner's report.
His daughter, Myia Fields, said her father's favorite activities were reading the Bible and watching the Dallas Cowboys.
"He was a God-loving man who worked hard and dedicated his life to the lord," Myia Fields said.
Mark Fields had eight siblings, according to Myia Fields.
Rex Ellison, 55, a local wrestler from Hoxie, was among the Arkansans who died over the weekend after contracting covid-19, according to his brother Mark Ellison.
Mark Ellison said his brother was most well known for performing in rings in Tuckerman and Walnut Ridge, where he went by the name "Sexy" Rex Ellison. To those close to him, Rex Ellison was also known for his abundant kindness as well as his love of art and fishing, his brother said.
In September, Rex Ellison purchased a fly-fishing rod while he was preparing to be admitted to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to undergo chemotherapy for multiple myeloma. The brothers planned to go fishing in Mammoth Spring, near the Missouri border, once Rex was released from the hospital.
While undergoing his cancer treatment, Rex Ellison contracted the virus, his brother said. Rex Ellison died Sunday about an hour before midnight, according to a coroner's report. He had no children, according to his brother.
"He never got to use it," Mark Ellison said of the fishing rod.