Deaths in Arkansas related to the covid-19 outbreak surpassed 900 on Monday as the state's health officials reported 350 new infections on the final day of Labor Day weekend.
Meanwhile, reported covid-19 cases mounted at colleges and universities around Arkansas, in particular the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where officials have identified more than 920 active cases.
Just six days after the outbreak's toll in Arkansas exceeded 800, the death toll increased to 908 because of 14 additional deaths reported Monday, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.
The cumulative number of infections in Arkansas rose to 65,727 on Monday. Results from 6,057 polymerase chain reaction tests were logged the previous day.
The total number of new covid-19 cases added to the state's total between Friday and Monday was 2,646. Friday's 1,094 new cases represented a single-day high since the first confirmed case of the coronavirus was reported in Arkansas in March.
"We've seen improved case numbers this weekend with good testing numbers, but the real report card will be the coming two weeks. Thanks to everyone who followed commonsense distancing this Labor Day," Gov. Asa Hutchinson wrote on Twitter on Monday afternoon.
In an interview Monday, with regard to the state surpassing 900 deaths less than a week after reaching 800, state epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Dillaha suggested there can be a delay between when officials see a surge in new cases and when an increasing number of deaths appears in the reported total.
Like many states, Arkansas experienced a dramatic increase in the number of reported covid-19 cases during the first part of the summer.
"It takes several days sometimes for people to become particularly ill," Dillaha said. "Ill enough to go to the hospital and then ill enough to go to the ICU and be on a ventilator."
About half of the people who end up on a ventilator do not survive, she added.
Even as the number of new cases reported each day declined from Friday's record, a new report from the Department of Health on Monday showed widening outbreaks tied to students and staff at campuses around the state.
Among all the colleges and universities for which the Department of Health has information on outbreaks, as of Monday, 1,241 covid-19 cases were considered active. That figure represented a jump compared with the 327 active cases at colleges and universities listed in the department's previous report, released Thursday.
At the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, at least 923 students, faculty, graduate assistants and staff were reported to have active coronavirus infections Monday, according to the university's portal tracking the outbreak on campus -- a significant spike compared with the university's last active-case count Friday, when 639 active cases were reported.
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Across the state, the number of active cases Monday dipped slightly by 126, from 6,188 to 6,062. However, the number of active cases in Arkansas has climbed steadily past 5,000 since the first week of September after hitting a peak of nearly 7,400 active cases Aug. 9, and then mostly declining thereafter.
Asked about the recent increase in the number of active cases, Dillaha said active cases can provide a more current and accurate picture of what is happening in the community compared with the cumulative number of covid-19 cases, which may reflect infections that occurred several months ago.
The number of active cases can give you an idea of how many infectious people "are in your community that have been diagnosed," she said.
On Monday, the number of hospitalizations increased by 10, to 399, and the number of patients on ventilators fell by four, to 74, according to the Department of Health.
UNIVERSITY CASES SURGE
Driving the overall increase in covid-19 cases associated with college campuses in Arkansas was the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
The university's covid-19 caseload increased by 439 based on testing conducted between Friday and Sunday, according to the university's website. Of those new cases, 157 were self-reported positive cases.
According to the university, as of Monday, 912 students had active coronavirus infections, along with two graduate assistants, three faculty members and six staff members.
On-campus testing facilitated by the university health center and the athletic department between Aug. 10 and Saturday yielded a test positivity rate of 12.7% after 472 tests out of 3,734 returned positive, according to the university's web portal on the outbreak.
On Friday, the university administration suspended on-campus activities not involving academics or intercollegiate athletics beginning the next day, Saturday, and running through Sept. 18. The interim provost left the door open to a possible extension of the time frame.
Dillaha said she was concerned about the increase among members of the university community in Fayetteville.
She said that Hutchinson and the university chancellor, Joseph E. Steinmetz, "have been in discussions about steps that the university could take to mitigate the spread among the student body."
When asked what she would tell the chancellor to do, if she had his ear, Dillaha declined to say.
"I don't think I would hazard to give recommendations at this time. I think that is something that the governor and the secretary of health would do," she said.
Hutchinson, she said, "is a very good listener. And he does an excellent job of taking all kinds of perspectives into consideration before he makes his decisions."
"And consequently," she went on, "he's able to get good input and make decisions that have really benefited Arkansas."
In the Little Rock School District, seven students at David O. Dodd Elementary entered quarantine as of the 24-hour period ending at 3 p.m. Monday because of possible exposure to the virus, according to the district's daily covid-19 report.
Additionally, a Mabelvale Middle School student and one staff member each at Baseline Academy, Central High School, Terry Elementary and Dodd began quarantining as of Monday afternoon, the school district reported.
With 24 active cases, the Fort Smith School District led the state in terms of active cases in public school districts, according to a report that includes both confirmed and probable cases in educational settings released Monday by the Department of Health.
The Fort Smith School District has experienced a total of 95 infections, according to the Department of Health, more than any other school district, followed by Springdale Public Schools with 70 cumulative infections. Eighteen of the cases in Springdale remain active, the Department of Health reported.
In the same report on educational settings, the Department of Health reported that there were 961 active cases at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, though it was unclear why the agency's active-case count was greater than the figure released by the university.
The university in Fayetteville was followed by Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, with 58 and 41 active cases, respectively, according to the Department of Health.
CASES BY COUNTY
Four of the latest reported deaths occurred in Independence County, two each in Mississippi and Sevier counties and one each in Washington, Howard, Sebastian, Little River, Garland and Columbia counties, according to Department of Health spokeswoman Danyelle McNeill.
Pulaski County reported 42 new covid-19 cases as well as a drop in the number of active cases, from 718 to 688.
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Cases in Washington County rose by 27 for a total of 7,666 cumulative infections. Of those cases, 775 remain active, the most of any county in the state.
In Benton County, 13 new cases were reported, pushing the cumulative infection total to 5,645. Of those cases, 328 are active.
Craighead County reported 45 new cases for a total of 2,124 infections. Health officials reported that 351 cases in the county remain active, up 28 from the previous day.
Over the weekend, 55 new covid-19 cases were identified among inmates and staff at the Benton County jail, according to a statement from the Benton County sheriff's office released Monday.
In the news release, Lt. Shannon Jenkins of the sheriff's office said the 50 inmates and five staff members who tested positive were all asymptomatic.
Approximately 600 people were tested after the jail's medical provider and the Department of Health "determined a test for all inmates and jail employees would be the best practice," Jenkins wrote.