New ACHI report on COVID-19 cases a ‘reference’ point only for school officials

The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement unveiled known COVID-19 cases by school district designed to help school officials know about the virus spread in the communities they serve. The state’s education boss said the data is for “reference” only and not solely to determine if schools should open or close.

According to Little Rock-based ACHI, the new case count report includes children and adults but does not include cases in prisons or nursing homes. The new report replaces active cases per district with new cases per district, with trend information created by showing 14-day case counts from the prior three weeks. The data is scheduled to be updated each Thursday.

“This information is intended to inform decision makers, including policymakers, school personnel, and parents, about the level of risk in each school district and whether the risk is increasing or decreasing,” ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson said in a statement. “With schools across the state set to open next week, we believe it is important that decisions be informed by the best available data.”

The new data report was announced Thursday (Aug. 20) during Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID briefing.

Thompson said during the briefing that the report is “not a triggering indicator for any active decision,” but is a tiered-risk indicator allowing school district officials to know if they are in a district with high or low risk for community spread.

Arkansas Secretary of Education Johnny Key also stressed that the ACHI report is for“reference” only and is not a “policy document.”

“There are other data points that must be considered in addition to the data that Dr. Thompson and his team have released today. … This is a tool. This is a data point. But it is not the only data point,” Key said.

Key said changes in how schools function will continue to be guided primarily by the three “response guidelines” the Arkansas Department of Education rolled out in early July. Following are the basic response guidelines from the ADE.
• Limited response
Enforce physical distancing
Postpone non-critical school events and gatherings
Intensify cleaning

• Moderate response
Initiate blended learning
Alter meal locations
Stagger class schedules
Encourage alternative transportation

• Critical response
Restrict on-site (campus) access
Pivot to remote learning
Postpone/cancel events

Key has said each district will have a person to coordinate with the ADE and Arkansas Department of Health to determine the appropriate response level.

Key also said Thursday the range of students choosing virtual learning option only ranges among school districts between 20% and 50%.

NEW KNOWN COVID CASES

Known COVID-19 cases in Arkansas totaled 54,765 on Thursday, up 549 new cases from 54,216 on Wednesday, with 6,898 test results from the previous 24 hours. Of the 549 new cases, 50 were from correctional facilities. There are 5,666 active cases.

The number of deaths rose from 631 to 641. The number of COVID patients hospitalized in Arkansas was 499 on Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday. There are 108 patients on ventilators, down from 114 on Wednesday. There are 48,558 cumulative recovered cases.

The top five counties with new known cases were: Pulaski (51), Sebastian (35), Jefferson (29), Garland (24), and Crawford (22). The five counties accounted for 32.3% of the 499 new community cases.

As of Thursday at 1 p.m., there were 5,549,826 U.S. cases and 173,626 deaths. Globally, there were 22,497,390 cases and 789,455 deaths.