State cases up 617; vigilance stressed

Governor Hutchinson addresses the media during a weekly update on Arkansas' response to COVID-19 on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. 

(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / Stephen Swofford)
Governor Hutchinson addresses the media during a weekly update on Arkansas' response to COVID-19 on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette / Stephen Swofford)

Arkansas' "winter strategies" for dealing with the coronavirus include encouraging more residents to get flu shots, improving the state's contact tracing efforts and having about 100,000 more molecular tests done by Oct. 20, so that a total of 1 million Arkansans will have been tested at that point, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday.

He said state officials also will continue to urge residents to wear masks in public and practice social distancing, usually defined as staying at least 6 feet away from other people who are not part of the same household.

"You've heard Dr. [Anthony] Fauci and others say that with flu season coming on, that with the cold weather, it could be a very difficult time that we're going to come into here in the late fall and winter months," Hutchinson said, referring to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"I want everybody in Arkansas to be prepared for what's ahead and to continue our focus, because we're going to be living with covid for some time, but as everyone knows we're increasing our activity, from school to sports, and we want to continue that, but we can't lose focus of our strategy."

Hutchinson spoke as the state's count of coronavirus cases rose by 617, a smaller increase than the 641 cases that were added a day earlier.

The cases added Tuesday included 486 confirmed through molecular, polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests and 131 "probable" cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests.

The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the state Department of Health, rose by 12, to 1,209.

All 12 new deaths were of confirmed cases, bringing the count of deaths among such cases to 1,060. The state's death toll also includes 149 among probable cases.

The number of people in the state hospitalized with covid-19 rose by 12, to 459, while the number who have ever been hospitalized rose by 69, to 5,055.

The number of patients who were on ventilators fell by nine, to 88, even as the number of patients in the state who have ever been on a ventilator rose by 6, to 638.

Despite the increase in the state's case count, the number of confirmed or probable cases that were considered active fell by 123 because of deaths and 728 Arkansans who were newly classified as having recovered.

The state's cumulative count of cases rose to 76,981, including 74,772 confirmed cases and 2,209 probable ones.

Public health officials have encouraged people to get flu shots this year, in part to ensure hospitals don't become overwhelmed with patients.

State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said the Health Department's local health units around the state began on Monday offering the shot, which she said is available to walk-in patients.

Some units also have drive-thru flu vaccination clinics, she said.

The shot is available at no charge to the patient, although the department will charge a patient's health insurance plan, if the patient has one.

She said the shot keeps about half of the people who get vaccinated from getting the flu.

"Those that do get the flu will have milder cases, and it goes a long way toward keeping people out of the hospital, and that is something that in the time of a covid pandemic is very important to do," she said.

As far as contact tracing, Hutchinson said the state has "greatly added to the number of tracers," but is trying to improve procedures to reduce the amount of time involved in the process.

Health Department Chief of Staff Stephanie Williams said the state has 787 contact tracers through contracts with vendors, up from about 200 Health Department staff members who were once assigned to the task.

Once the department is notified of a positive covid-19 test result, the average time to complete contact tracing is two to three days, according to a chart she displayed at Hutchinson's weekly news conference on the pandemic.

By contrast, in July, just assigning a case to a contact tracer, a process that involves entering information from the laboratory report into a database and having a nurse contact the person and interview them, sometimes took four days, she said.

"We've dramatically decreased the amount of time it takes to act on this information," Williams said.

If Arkansans continue to be tested at the current rate, the state should easily meet Hutchinson's goal of having 1 million residents -- or about a third of the state's population -- tested by Oct. 20.

As of Tuesday, 897,997 PCR tests of Arkansans had been performed since the start of the pandemic, according to the Health Department's online dashboard of coronavirus information.

Reaching Hutchinson's goal would mean conducting an additional 102,003 tests, or an average of 3,643 a day.

By comparison, as of Monday, 163,704 PCR tests of Arkansans had been performed this month, an average of 7,795 a day.

The state was also on track to meet Hutchinson's goal of having 180,000 PCR tests of Arkansans performed this month.

With 13,863 antigen tests performed this month as of Monday, the state had already met his goal to have 10,000 antigen tests in September.

TASK FORCE REPORT

According to a weekly report from the White House coronavirus task force, Arkansas last week had the fourth-highest per capita growth rate in cases among the states and the 18th-highest percentage of tests that were positive.

The report, dated Sunday, said Arkansas had 6,169 new cases during the seven-day span ending Friday, translating to a rate of 204 cases per 100,000 residents.

That was a 65% increase from the previous week, when the state had 3,736 cases, or 124 per 100,000 residents.

The report continued to classify the state as being in the "red zone" for new cases, meaning it had 101 or more new cases last week per 100,000 residents.

It also said the state continued to be in the "yellow zone" for the percentage of its PCR tests that were positive in the week that ended Sept. 16.

Previous reports labeled states as being in the yellow zone for that measure if 5%-10% of their tests were positive.

The latest edition put states in the yellow zone for positivity if 5%-7.9% of their tests were positive, and it added an "orange zone" for states where 8%-10% of the tests were positive.

Arkansas' rate was 6.8%, down from the 7.6% listed in the previous week's report.

It listed 19 Arkansas counties as being in the red zone, meaning they had 101 or more new cases per 100,000 residents the previous week and that 10.1% or more of their tests were positive.

That was up from 17 counties listed as being in the red zone the previous week.

An additional 13 counties were listed as being in the new orange zone, indicating that they didn't meet the criteria for the red zone and had at least 51 new cases per 100,000 residents last week and that at least 8% of their PCR tests were positive.

The report continued to recommend using "standard metrics to determine school learning options and capacity limits for bars and indoor seating" in "areas with ongoing high levels of transmission."

It also recommended Arkansas "[d]ramatically increase testing at universities to quickly find and quarantine on-campus cases and prevent spread in the surrounding community."

"Use positive incentives to encourage testing among students," the report suggested.

Hutchinson spokesman Katie Beck said Hutchinson "has advocated for increased testing since the beginning of the pandemic, and continues to set and exceed rigorous testing goals each month."

If the Health Department "determines the positivity rate among 18-24-year-olds is increasing in a city with a college or university, ADH makes a plan to provide assistance for targeted outreach, testing and any other assistance the institution might need," she said in an email.

"I have been in regular contact with leadership at our colleges and universities, and I am encouraged that we are currently seeing a decrease in cases across the state due to increased testing and stricter adherence to our public health guidelines," Hutchinson said in a statement.

At the news conference, Hutchinson said the state's growth in cases was "obviously too high," but he pointed to the decrease in the percentage of tests that were positive as "good news."

He said the report also highlighted the state's increase in testing, with 77,181 PCR tests that were conducted last week, compared with 46,924 the previous week.

As the report recommends, he said the state is working to increase compliance with Health Department directives.

Since late June, he said Alcoholic Beverage Control agents have conducted 2,067 inspections of bars and restaurants and found 173 to be out of compliance.

Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration Director Scott Hardin said 80% of the violators received verbal warnings.

For the others, the penalties ranged from a $600 fine and 60-day probationary period for their liquor license to a $1,500 fine and extended probationary period.

"The verbal warning has been very effective as owners and managers have been quick to correct non-compliance," Hardin said.

SCHOOL CASES

The count of confirmed and probable coronavirus cases on the Health Department's dashboard increased by 134 in Pulaski County, 97 in Washington County, 67 in Benton County, 36 in Craighead County, 33 in Sebastian County and 31 in Faulkner County.

Meanwhile, a report Tuesday in The New York Times listed Arkansas as having 2,919 coronavirus cases among public and private kindergarten-through-12th-grade schools.

Of the 21 states for which the Times was able to find case information, that was the second-highest number behind Texas, which had at least 4,528 cases.

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Neighboring Tennessee was listed as having 1,314 cases, while Mississippi had 2,054 and Louisiana had 256.

The report cautioned against making comparisons among states, however. Noting that "some states report in ways that understate their totals," such as only including schools with five or more cases.

The total given for Arkansas was lower than what the Health Department reported Monday.

In its biweekly report on educational institutions, the department said Arkansas had a total of 3,637 cases among students and employees at public school districts and 194 at private schools.

Of those, 748 public school district cases and 37 private school cases were active as of Monday.

Hutchinson said he hadn't seen the Times report. He said the number of cases within schools hasn't been as big of an impediment to school operations as the number of students and employees who are required to quarantine as a result of positive cases.

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INSTRUCTION SHIFTS

Kimberly Mundell, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education's Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, said 108 Arkansas public schools or school districts have had to modify instructional delivery, such as a shift to all-virtual instruction in the weeks since the 2020-21 school year started.

She said 49 of those modifications were because of weather, one was caused by a ruptured water line and the other 58 were because of the coronavirus.

At Hutchinson's news conference, Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key said some of those modifications have been single classrooms; some are particular grades at a school; and some are whole schools.

He said 83 of the schools or school districts had already gone back to their normal operations.

Some of the latest schools to announce plans to pivot to virtual instruction are in Magnolia and Jonesboro.

Magnolia High School, which serves about 580 students in grades 10 through 12, is shifting to virtual learning today through Friday, the Magnolia School District announced Tuesday on its website.

"This is a measure of extreme caution in response to three positive covid-19 cases," the district said.

"Several students have also been quarantined due to close contact to positive cases or for exhibiting symptoms. During this closure, all classrooms will be disinfected in preparation for students to return to school on Monday."

Tuesday's decision on virtual instruction came a day after the district canceled the Magnolia High homecoming game and postponed homecoming festivities because of covid-19.

The Friday game between the Magnolia Panthers and the Arkansas High (Texarkana) Razorbacks has been ruled a "no contest" event.

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The status of the Oct. 2 game between the Panthers and Hot Springs Lakeside will be determined at a later date.

Also today through Friday, pupils at Jonesboro School District's Douglas MacArthur Junior High will pivot to virtual learning for covid-related reasons, according to the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and the school"s website.

The seventh-through-ninth-grade school's enrollment was 740 last year, the most recent count available from the state education division.

"The district is making this decision due to the large number of students currently absent from school due to required quarantines as per [Health Department] guidelines," the district said on its Facebook page.

The school's volleyball and football games scheduled for this week have been canceled.

The Little Rock School District, which posts a daily school-by-school report on covid cases and quarantines, said three students were diagnosed with covid, and 23 students and employees were quarantined because of exposures in the 24-hour period between that ended at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

Two students who tested positive go to Southwest High, and one goes to Parkview Magnet High.

Those quarantined included 10 students at Parkview, one each at Chicot, Gibbs, Horace Mann and Terry and two each at Cloverdale and Meadowcliff.

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Additionally two staff members were quarantined from Stephens Elementary, and one employee each at Parkview, the Instructional Resource Center, and the transportation department.

Meanwhile, Arkansas Tech University said it had suspended intercollegiate athletics through at least Oct. 4 after 52 student athletes tested positive for the virus.

In a news release, the university had a total of 70 active cases of Tuesday.

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