FAYETTEVILLE, Ark — The Fayetteville Board of Health is wanting to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Northwest Arkansas.
The board sent a letter to the University of Arkansas asking the chancellor to take into consideration the number of cases of COVID-19 in the community and the number of patients in our hospitals when deciding whether or not to bring students back on campus after Thanksgiving break.
“As the students go home, they are going to want to go see their friends from high school, their family members and there is a potential for them to bring back more virus in our community. So, we just want to be cognizant of the effect that could have on our numbers,” said Dr. Marti Sharkey.
With a large portion of students from Texas where they’ve surpassed the million-case mark, Fayetteville Board of Health, City Health Officer, Dr. Marti Sharkey says there is now a third COVID-19 unit open at Washington Regional where they are seeing an increasing number of COVID patients being admitted.
“We are seeing an increase in the number of ICU admits as well as the increase in deaths, unfortunately," Dr. Sharkey said. "That’s really what we are trying to prevent here. We want everybody that’s here at Thanksgiving this year to be here at Thanksgiving next year."
The University is not considering going remote after the Thanksgiving break but as the chancellor has said recently to students, everyone should be prepared for the possibility to pivot.
University of Arkansas spokesman, John Thomas says all students have the option to go remote anytime during the school year. He says right now only around 20% of their classes are being taught face-to-face.
“An even smaller amount of our student population doesn’t even live on campus, so when you kind of look at all the numbers like that and look at the number of students who could be on campus at a given time, we still feel the campus is a safe environment,” he said.
The University is encouraging all students, faculty and staff to get tested for COVID-19 before leaving campus for the break. If you feel you were exposed, the university recommends getting tested before returning to campus.