Number of covid-19 cases steady in Siloam Springs

The number of active positive covid-19 cases reported in Siloam Springs showed little change last week.

The geographic area of the Siloam Springs School District had 122 new infections in the 14-day period ending on Feb. 1, giving the area a rate of 52 infections per 10,000 residents and cumulative total of 2,367 known infections, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) website achi. net.

In comparison, there were 121 known new infections during the 14-day period ending on Jan. 25, a rate of 52 infections per 10,000 residents and a cumulative total of 2,286 infections.

The community of Siloam Springs had 117 new known infections in the 14-day period ending on Feb. 1, giving the area a rate of 52 infections per 10,000 residents, and a cumulative total of 2,298 residents, or 10 percent of the community, according to ACHI.

In comparison, the community had 115 new infections, a rate of 52 infections per 10,000 residents, and a cumulative total of 2,223 cases, or 10 percent of the community, during the 14-day period ending on Jan. 25.

The number of Siloam Springs who have died of covid-related causes remained at 31 as of Friday, according to the Benton County Coroner’s Office. There have been a total of 76 covid-related deaths in Benton County so far in 2021, according to the county coroner’s website, bentoncountyar.gov/coroner/.

The Siloam Springs School District reported 11 active positive cases among students and seven cases among staff members at the end of the day Thursday. There were 42 students in quarantine after being identified as probable close contacts and 14 staff members in quarantine, according to the district website, siloamschools.com.

John Brown University reported one active student case and three active employee cases between Feb. 3 and Feb. 5, according to the university website, jbu. edu. Six students and four employees were in observation after being identified as probable close contacts.

More than 1,100 JBU students returned to classes on Feb. 1 after a twomonth holiday break designed to keep students from going home and returning multiple times over the holidays. Students and staff members were required to get a negative covid-19 test before returning to campus.

Siloam Springs Nursing and Rehab was not on the Arkansas Department of Health’s Jan. 25 or Feb. 1 list of nursing homes that have experienced positive cases in the past two weeks.

Other local communities had the following rates of new known infection as of Feb. 1:

• Bentonville, 56 per 10,000 residents

• Fayetteville, 53 per 10,000 residents

• Gentry, 42 per 10,000 residents

• Lincoln, 54 per 10,000 residents

• Rogers, 65 per 10,000 residents

• Springdale, 59 per 10,000 residents.