The Arkansas Department of Health reported 375 new covid-19 cases on Sunday, a decline from recent daily case numbers just before K-12 schools around the state begin the 2020-21 school year.
Of the new cases, 24 were in correctional facilities. Thirteen additional deaths reported Sunday brought the state's pandemic-related toll to 687.
The daily case numbers appeared to be on a downward trend from last week's high point on Friday, when 887 new cases were reported, followed by 547 on Saturday.
"Another good day of testing and lower cases shows us moving in the right direction, and Arkansans are responding well to the threat of this virus," Gov. Asa Hutchinson wrote on Twitter on Sunday afternoon.
Testing, however, was down Saturday compared with the day before, according to data available Sunday. Results from just over 6,200 tests were reported to the Department of Health on Friday, compared with 5,966 on Saturday.
The additional cases reported Sunday pushed the cumulative number of infections in Arkansas to 56,574. Active cases declined by 125, to 5,636, according to the Department of Health.
"I'm glad we're on a downward trend, but we're going to have to be very diligent still because with school in session, there'll be a lot more opportunities for transmission in the community," state epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Dillaha said in an interview Sunday. "So I'm hopeful that we can maintain either a downward trend, or at least keep it flat."
Time will tell, she added.
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The count of Arkansans who tested positive for the virus but ultimately recovered surpassed 50,000 on Sunday, the Department of Health reported. A total of 50,251 people in Arkansas had recovered from covid-19 as of Sunday, up from 49,764 on Saturday.
With a dozen or more new deaths reported on a near-daily basis last week, Arkansas' death toll is likely to exceed 700 by today or Tuesday.
In a sign of the health sector's ongoing battle against the virus, the number of hospitalizations and patients on ventilators both increased on Sunday.
Hospitalized patients increased by eight, to 500, and the number of individuals on ventilators increased by two, to 110, according to the Department of Health.
Dillaha suggested the number of hospitalizations can lag somewhere between two and four weeks behind the new-case numbers. She said patients can be ill for weeks after they are infected with the coronavirus before they are admitted to the hospital.
Active cases in Pulaski County declined slightly from 637 to 625 on Sunday. The county added 56 new cases, for a running total of 6,533 infections.
In Sebastian County, health officials added 13 new cases, for a total of 2,679. Active cases fell from 366 to 353.
In the two most-populous counties in Northwest Arkansas, active cases were hovering around 200 on Sunday, with 206 in Benton County and 205 in Washington County.
Cumulative infections in Jefferson County were nearing 2,000 on Sunday, with the Department of Health reporting 1,899 total cases. Active cases in the county rose slightly between Saturday and Sunday, from 267 to 272.
In Craighead County, 1,682 total infections were reported on Sunday, an increase of seven. Active cases in the county fell by three, to 237.
After a delay of nearly two weeks to the 2020-21 start date, students, educators and staff members were preparing to return to school today for the first in-person instruction since the governor ended on-site schooling in March, as the outbreak accelerated in the U.S.
On Saturday, the Little Rock School District announced that several confirmed covid-19 cases with implications for schools in the district had resulted in students and staff members self-isolating.
In a statement, spokeswoman Pamela Smith said seven employees of Brady Elementary were quarantining after one staff member tested positive for covid-19. Additionally, Smith said, 18 members of the Parkview High School basketball team as well as a coach were quarantining after an assistant coach tested positive.
And Smith said three students who attend different district schools were quarantining after a Mabelvale Middle School parent tested positive.
The Brady and Parkview facilities were undergoing deep cleaning over the weekend, Smith said.
Today, the district will attempt to implement a phased reentry plan for all students, with the exception of pre-kindergartners, during at least the first week of classes.
When asked how students, teachers and anyone with a connection to K-12 schools should mentally prepare for a school year like no other, Dillaha said it will be important "to maintain the focus on school and reduce activities outside of school that could increase risk for transmission of the virus."
Arkansans will also need to be more careful about sending students and staff members to school when they appear to be ill, even with cold symptoms, Dillaha said, explaining that "we'll have to be more conservative."
From Dillaha's point of view, one of the concerns going into this school year is a so-called super-spreader event, when a highly infectious individual is able to transmit the virus to a large number of people.
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"Those events are more likely to happen when you have a lot of people together at one time," she said. "And that they're either not following the recommendations or they're engaging in some activity that promotes the spread."
These super-spreader events can occur "no matter what we're doing," regardless of whether the gatherings take place at schools, social events, sporting events or houses of worship, if people do not take precautions, Dillaha said.
"We're all looking forward to seeing how things go, and we're really hoping for the best, as well as planning to support the best case possible," Dillaha said.