Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases rose by 871 Friday, the third-straight day of increases of more than 800 cases.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, rose by seven, to 1,173.
According to the state's online dashboard of coronavirus information, the increase in the case count included 724 infections confirmed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 147 probable cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests.
As he did a day earlier, Gov. Asa Hutchinson emphasized the number of tests that were conducted, including a record 2,201 antigen tests Thursday.
The 9,577 PCR tests that were conducted Thursday also comprised one of the state's largest one-day totals.
"We had over 11,000 tests with both PCR tests and antigen tests," the Republican governor said in a statement.
"Our cases were down from yesterday at 724, but we want this to go down more."
The state's total case count rose to 74,082, including 72,338 confirmed cases and 1,744 probable ones.
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Despite the different classifications, the Health Department has said it treats confirmed and probable cases the same for the purposes of its contact-tracing efforts.
State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said the increase in cases was "consistent with what we've seen recently with regard to community spread."
"That shows that we have an ongoing problem that we need to address in our state," she said. "We need to bring it down."
All of the seven new deaths were among confirmed cases, bringing the number of deaths among confirmed cases to 1,025.
Dillaha said three of the deaths added to the state's count were of long-term-care facility residents, including one that happened during the first week of August but wasn't immediately reported.
The number of patients hospitalized with the virus in the state fell by eight, to 381, even as 36 covid-19 patients were newly admitted to hospitals.
Seventy-seven of the patients were on ventilators, up from 72 a day earlier.
The number of people who have ever been hospitalized with the virus in the state rose to 4,932, while the number who have ever been on ventilators rose by five, to 624.
In contrast to the increase in the overall case count, however, the number of confirmed or probable cases that were considered active rose by just 58, to 6,158, because of the seven deaths, and 806 Arkansas were newly classified as having recovered.
COLLEGE CASES
Of the 5,720 confirmed cases that were active in the state as of Thursday afternoon, 1,294, or 23%, were among residents age 18-24, according to a weekly Health Department report.
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That translated to a rate of 449 cases per 100,000 residents in that age group.
Among Arkansans of all ages, the active case total translated to a rate of 190 cases per 100,000 residents.
The rate among children was just 103 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 194 cases per 100,000 residents among Arkansans age 65 and older.
Residents age 18-24 also accounted for 166, or 19%, of the active or probable cases added to the state's total Friday.
That age group makes up just under 10% of the state's population, but almost 16% of the state's cases since the start of the pandemic.
At the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, the number of cases among people who have been on campus at some point since Aug. 1 rose by 36, to 1,541, from Tuesday to Thursday, the university reported on its website.
But it also reported another drop in its number of cases among students and employees that were still active.
After rising above 900 earlier in the month, the number listed on the website fell to 305 Wednesday and 284 Friday.
At Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, the number of active cases fell Friday by 26, to 120, according to the ASU website.
The number fell by 28, to 112, among students but rose from six to eight among employees, the university reported.
LINK TO GATHERINGS
In addition to the spread of the virus among college students who returned to campus last month, Dillaha linked the state's rise in cases to festivals and other events.
She said she had heard of at least one person who attended the National Championship Chuckwagon Races in Clinton over Labor Day weekend who later tested positive.
During the event, where the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that many people clustered together without wearing masks, an organizer acknowledged "some issue with some distancing" and said the staff had been encouraging people to spread out.
"Communities are making decisions to go ahead and host those events, and when those events are planned, they are to submit a plan to the Health Department for review and approval," Dillaha said.
"But one of my concerns is that the events should be carried out as planned rather than submitting a plan and not adhering to it."
As far as the chuckwagon races, Dillaha said, "We spoke with them, there were changes made, and that's an example of a plan where people didn't adhere but they were able to make changes."
But Dillaha said she hasn't seen evidence that the recent uptick in cases is connected to other gatherings over the Labor Day weekend.
"Right now we're not seeing a timing of an upsurge that we could connect to Labor Day, but it's still a little early to tell," she said.
INMATE CASES
The confirmed and probable case totals on the Health Department's online dashboard of coronavirus information increased by the largest amount, 82 cases, in Lincoln County, possibly at least in part because of outbreaks in two state prisons.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Cindy Murphy said the number of cases among inmates increased Friday by 45, to 476, at the Varner Unit and by 25, to 1,066 at the Cummins Unit.
The Cummins Unit, the site of a large outbreak early in the pandemic, had 36 cases that were active as of Friday, and the Varner Unit had 56, Murphy said.
Although the department completed statewide testing of all prison inmates last month, a new case at Cummins was discovered Wednesday, when an inmate was tested before being released on parole as part of the prison system's standard procedures, Murphy said.
The positive result from that inmate's test led to other inmates in the barracks being tested, resulting in additional cases, she said.
"That's just one of those safeguards, and a byproduct of that is it helps us find hot spots," Murphy said.
Among prison and jail inmates, the state's count of cases rose by 146.
Such increases can reflect new cases or ones that were added earlier but not immediately classified as coming from a jail or prison.
Cases among inmates are also sometimes added several days after a test is conducted, after information from laboratory reports is entered into a state database.
In addition to cases from the Cummins and Varner units, Health Department spokesman Gavin Lesnick said some of the inmate cases that were added were from the Pine Bluff Unit.
The inmate cases at that prison rose from 38 as of Sept. 10 to 82 as of Monday but haven't increased since then, Murphy said.
She said 27 of the prison's cases were active as of Friday.
The Health Department's count of cases rose by 79 in Washington County, 72 in Jefferson County, 65 in Pulaski County and 56 in Benton County.
The number of cases for which information about the person's county of residence was missing increased by 86, to 1,621.
The statewide rise in cases Friday followed increases of 862 Wednesday and 992 Thursday.
But the average number of cases added each day over a rolling seven-day period fell Friday by 44, to 728, as the state's record increase of 1,180 cases on Sept. 11 dropped out of the calculation.
Excluding 139 deaths of probable cases that were added to the state's case tallies Wednesday, the average daily increase over seven days fell by 64, to 709.
INSTRUCTION SHIFTS
Also Friday, instruction for sixth graders at the Forest Heights STEM Academy in Little Rock shifted to virtual, with plans to resume in-person classes on Sept. 28.
The Little Rock School District reported Thursday that one employee at the school had tested positive for the virus and four others were required to quarantine.
Meanwhile, the principal of the district's Southwest High School said the school will be closed through the weekend and Monday to both on-site and virtual-education students.
"This week, we have had several students test positive for the COVID virus," Principal Marvin Burton wrote in an email to students and families. "In addition, we have had to quarantine a large number of students based on close contact with their peers."
The district reported that it learned of three students at the school who had tested positive during the 24-hour period ending at 3 p.m. Friday and that another 21 students were required to quarantine for possible exposure to the virus.
That followed a report a day earlier of one student who had tested positive and 51 students at the 1,930-student school who were required to quarantine.
"LRSD is working with the Arkansas Department of Health and LRSD's Point of Contact team to continue efforts on contact tracing and will utilize this weekend and Monday for making a firm decision on the future direction for in-person learning," Burton wrote.
"We will also deep clean and disinfect the campus," he continued. "Students who attend school in-person will be provided further instructions Monday from the school, depending on the extent of the need for quarantine. "
Burton said the district is doing its best to be accurate in identifying the close contacts to those with the virus.
"Little Rock School District values the health of every student and staff member and that is why we are taking this extra step to research the extent of possible contacts. We will continue to be transparent and work with our [point of contact] to notify anyone who may be impacted. Thanks for your understanding and stay safe."
The district also reported that a student at Otter Creek Elementary had tested positive and that Hall High School and Mann Magnet Elementary School each had one employee who was required to quarantine.
In the week ending at 3 p.m. Friday, the district said a total of 10 students and nine employees had tested positive for the virus, and 146 students and 45 employees were required to quarantine.
Kimberly Mundell, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, said that so far in September, some 39 districts and/or schools had reported to the agency covid-related modifications to their on-site instruction.
Those included changes for a single class or a single grade at a campus.
At Tuckerman High School, all-online classes will continue until Wednesday, two days later than originally planned, the Jackson County School District announced on its website.
The school went to all-virtual instruction on Sept. 10 after some students tested positive and others were required to quarantine.
It had planned to return to on-site instruction Monday but could not ensure adequate staffing until Wednesday.
