Yesterday, Governor Asa Hutchinson held his weekly coronavirus response briefing ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. The briefing follows more high numbers of new COVID-19 cases, deaths and record hospitalizations. Hutchinson said the increased volume of cases has been challenging for contact tracers and the average timeframe from collection of the specimen until it reaches the Arkansas Department of Health system is about 37 hours. Secretary of Health Dr. Jose Romero made a familiar plea urging Arkansans to shift away from many holiday norms for the sake of their communities.

With a rise in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, Mercy Fort Smith is proactively reaching out to patients and asking them to consider becoming plasma donors. Convalescent plasma may contain antibodies that may help patients fighting the virus. Donors need to be fully recovered for 28 days before donating plasma.

Arkansas Children’s Northwest and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Orthopedics Northwest have developed a pediatric sports medicine program to provide comprehensive orthopedic care for student athletes in the region. 

Two days before the Thanksgiving holiday, the superintendent of the Springdale School District announced all schools would be pivoting to remote learning until Dec. 7. Superintendent Jarred Cleveland said there were too many staff who had tested positive for COVID-19 or had to be quarantined due to possible exposure that they weren't sure there would be enough substitute teachers to fill those roles for a number of days.

Researchers with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, with support from Winrock International, are asking farmers in the Mid-South to participate in a survey to measure interest in organic crop, feed, and livestock production.

KUAF General Manager Leigh Wood and Ozarks at Large Host Kyle Kellams discuss the state of the station in what has been a most unusual, challenging, constructive and emotional year. We also wanted to thank you, our listeners, members and sustainers, for your continued support of KUAF 91.3.

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning against holiday travel and family gatherings, many restaurants are boosting their sales by offering more to-go options for people whose Thanksgiving dinners have been canceled or scaled back because of COVID-19. 

The state's Fresh Start Program, which allocated $10 million in federal CARES Act funding for rental assistance, opened to applicants on Nov. 9. In Washington County, the Economic Opportunity Agency, which is administering the funding to renters in the area, received over 900 applications in just one week.