Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) president and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson announced today (July 30) that city-level data will be available with the number of active COVID-19 cases on its website.
“We have over 100 communities that we will list the number of actively infected individuals that are in those communities,” he said. “These are people that are potentially infectious or in symptomatic isolation.”
Furthermore, there will be approximately 400 more communities listed that have at least one COVID-19 case but an exact number of active cases will not be given if the community has less than 10.
“That puts us at 500 communities across the state with active COVID-19 disease in their community. That is virtually every community in the state, so this is a real issue. It’s a broad issue. It’s a spreading issue.”
Thompson also pointed out that ACHI is “working to denominate this so communities can have a rate in the future to track a trend line.”
The city-level data gives local leaders information to put into action in terms of minimizing the spread of COVID-19 within their communities.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson briefly commented on the top cities with the highest number of active cases as of today. Little Rock has 495, Springdale has 421, Fort Smith has 348, Jonesboro has 189, Rogers has 185, Pine Bluff has 168, Russellville has 166 and Fayetteville has 136.
“Sometimes you look at the city-level data and you learn a lot as to what’s happening in the community in terms of the spread and it should cause everybody to be more mindful and should be information that should be helpful to them.”
READ MORE: ACHI Providing Community-Level COVID-19 Data on Website
