Arkansas's cumulative COVID-19 cases jumped by more than a thousand today. Governor Asa Hutchinson announced the state received 1,011 positive test results in the last 24-hour monitoring period. There were also six additional deaths and nine additional hospitalizations. Fourteen counties reported at least 20 new cases. Pulaski County had 182 with a 100 cases originating at the correctional facility in Wrightsville. Sebastian County reported 43 new cases, Washington County had 41 and Benton County had 32. Today's briefing focused on the start of school and the upcoming elections.

The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, in collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Health, is providing key local coronavirus outbreak data on its website to Arkansas communities, healthcare agencies and the public to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

The pandemic has changed nearly everything, including back-to-school shopping for students, parents and teachers, so stores like Walmart are trying to find new ways to reach customers to provide items that weren't essential before, but are now.

The U.S. Census Bureau has announced it will stop accepting Census responses Sept. 30, a month earlier than planned. Arkansas Counts, a statewide initiative to get a complete count of the state for the 2020 Census, is ramping up outreach efforts as a result.

Arkansas's cumulative cases of COVID-19 surpassed 47,000 with an additional 735 new cases reported in the last 24-hour monitoring period. Of those, 691 are in the community and 44 are in correctional facilities. Pulaski County recorded the most new cases with 73. Sebastian County had 62 new cases, Benton County had 24 and Washington County wasn't on today's list, which only included counties with 20 or more cases. There were also seven more deaths bringing that total to 515. Today's briefing was led by Arkansas Secretary of Health Dr.

Get Shift Done is an initiative formed in the wake of the pandemic that connects affected hospitality workers with local nonprofits providing hunger relief to communities. The effort started in Texas in March. Now it’s expanding to other locations around the country including Northwest Arkansas. Workers are paid $15 an hour for completing shifts at local nonprofits.