Fayetteville health officer recommends masking in crowded, outdoor settings

FAYETTEVILLE -- The city's health officer recommended people at crowded, outdoor events who are within 6 feet of each other should wear masks.

Mayor Lioneld Jordan asked the city Board of Health for guidance with outdoor events. He said he has been getting requests for permits for outdoor events and wanted to know the best way to handle them. He also noted University of Arkansas football games are set to begin Sept. 4 and Bikes, Blues & BBQ is scheduled for Sept. 22-25, both of which will bring thousands of visitors to the city.

Jordan said he hasn't received a permit request for Bikes and Blues, but he has for other events such as block parties. Bikes and Blues organizers have said they plan to move the main stage of the festival from the city-owned lot west of the Walton Arts Center to the east lot of Baum-Walker Stadium this year.

Marti Sharkey, the city's public health officer, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends in areas of high covid-19 spread, such as Arkansas, that people should consider wearing a mask in crowded, outdoor situations regardless of vaccination status. However, she took the idea a step further and said people at crowded, outdoor gatherings in the city should go ahead and mask up.

"My recommendation, knowing how high our cases are and how full our hospitals are, is that if you are actively planning a crowded outdoor event, you should in that case require masks in that setting," Sharkey said.

Board members agreed. But the city can't police everyone, they said.

Washington County had 2,000 active covid-19 cases Wednesday, according to the state Department of Health. Benton County had 1,807.

Hospitals in the two counties were caring for 159 covid-19 patients Wednesday, according to a news release from Northwest Arkansas Health Care Providers. The number was 10 fewer than Tuesday.

The City Council reinstated a citywide mask mandate during a special meeting Aug. 6 as the delta variant of covid-19 has spread in the region and elsewhere in the nation. The mandate puts the responsibility on individuals to wear masks in public places, rather than requiring businesses to have customers wear masks. It does not apply to the university or Fayetteville Public Schools, although those institutions have implemented their own mask mandates for indoor settings. County, state or federal buildings and religious institutions also are exempt from the city mandate, according to City Attorney Kit Williams.

Jordan said he would pass the board's guidance on outdoor events to their organizers.

The board briefly discussed an idea in which indoor masking requirements could be waived with a proof of vaccination upon entry. Such a policy would muddle the message and be counterproductive, Sharkey and board members agreed. Vaccinated people can still unknowingly transmit the virus without having symptoms, they said.

The number of Fayetteville Public Schools students in quarantine rose from 148 Tuesday to 174 Wednesday, according to the district's online dashboard. The number of students in quarantine reported for Monday was 32, but the number appeared falsely low, Sharkey said. There were 14 staff members in quarantine Wednesday.

The district reported 66 active covid-19 cases among students Wednesday, and 19 for staff. There are 10,454 students enrolled in the district and 1,463 staff members overall.

Nearly 45% of 432,007 residents 12 and older in Washington and Benton counties are fully vaccinated, according to the state Department of Health. About 12% in Washington County and 11% in Benton County are partially immunized.