Oak Ridge Today

Updated: Anderson, Roane report record increases in COVID cases

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A daily snapshot of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, includes, among other information, the daily number of new cases and the daily positivity rate. (Graphic by Tennessee Department of Health)

Note: This story was updated at 4:45 p.m.

Anderson and Roane counties reported record-high one-day increases in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as the pandemic appears to have returned to or surpassed July levels. Anderson County set another record on Thursday.

Roane County reported 41 new cases on Wednesday, and Anderson County reported 40.

Update: Anderson County reported another record increase on Thursday, 46 new cases. It’s the second day of a record increase in COVID-19 cases in Anderson County.

The previous high in Anderson County was 39 on July 23. Until now, July had been the worst month of the pandemic.

The previous high in Roane County had been 34 on October 23. It followed an earlier peak of 33 on July 23.

Oak Ridge is in both Anderson and Roane counties. Most of the city’s residents live in Anderson County, but the west end of the city is in Roane County.

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Ten COVID cases reported among students since Friday

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. We have defined weeks as Wednesday-Tuesday. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 14 started Wednesday, Oct. 28, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Oct. 29.

Ten COVID-19 cases have been reported among students in Oak Ridge Schools since Friday. That’s the highest number of cases reported in any seven-day period so far this school year.

The 10 new student cases were reported between Friday and Wednesday. Six of the cases were reported among students at Oak Ridge High School. It’s not clear yet if the surge is an anomaly or part of a trend.

There are currently 46 students and five staff members who are not allowed to attend school because they have been in close contact with someone at school who has been confirmed to have COVID-19, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in response to questions Wednesday.

The surge in new cases has occurred as middle schools prepare to return to classes five days per week starting Monday.

Borchers has said about 80 percent of COVID-19 cases in the schools were due to activities outside of school. On Wednesday, he said 85.2 percent of the student cases in Oak Ridge Schools have been confirmed to be non-school related.

Borchers said the schools are not aware of any cases in which students or staff members have developed COVID-19 because they were in close contact with a person at school who was confirmed to be COVID-positive.

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Christmas Parade will be reverse parade

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A float is pictured above in the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s annual Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016. (File photo by Eli Welton)

The Oak Ridge Christmas Parade will be a reverse parade this year because of concerns about COVID-19. That means the floats will be stationary and spectators will drive the parade route.

In normal years, the spectators are stationary, and the floats are driven down Oak Ridge Turnpike.

This year, floats will line the northbound lanes of Lafayette Drive (heading toward Oak Ridge Turnpike), and spectators will drive down the southbound lanes (heading toward Illinois Avenue) to enjoy the festivities from the safety and comfort of their own cars, a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the parade, announced the change on Monday. [Read more…]

Updated: Twenty-eight COVID-19 cases reported among students, schools staff

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Twenty-seven cases of COVID-19 have been reported among Oak Ridge Schools student and staff members, according to data posted by the school system. Note: One new case affecting an ORHS student was reported Monday afternoon, Oct. 26, 2020, bringing the total to 28. (Chart by Oak Ridge Schools)

Note: This story was updated with a new case at ORHS at 5:15 p.m.

Twenty-eight cases of COVID-19 have been reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools this school year, and six of those are current cases, according to data published by the school system.

The majority of the cases, 23 of the 28, have been among students. The most cases have been reported at Oak Ridge High School, with nine student cases and two staff cases, or 11 total.

Jefferson Middle School has had the second-highest total of cases, with five student cases and two staff cases, or seven total.

No cases have been reported at Linden Elementary School, Secret City Academy, and Willow Brook Elementary School.

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COVID positivity rates high in Anderson, surrounding counties

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COVID-19 data for Anderson County as reported by the Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee Department of Health)

The COVID-19 positivity rates in Anderson County and surrounding counties have been high recently, and one additional death and five more hospitalizations were reported in Anderson County in two days this week.

The positivity rate in Anderson County was close to 10 percent on Thursday and higher than 10 percent in five of the seven surrounding counties. It was highest in Union County, where the positivity rate was 18.4 percent.

The 14th death in Anderson County was reported by the Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday, and the five new hospitalizations were reported on Wednesday and Thursday.

The positivity rate measures the percentage of new daily tests that return positive results out of all the new daily tests. A higher positivity rate means more people are testing positive out of those who are tested each day.

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Smith estimates 600-700 COVID cases in Oak Ridge zip code

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Image courtesy Ellen Smith

Oak Ridge City Council member Ellen Smith has estimated there could have been between 600 to 700 cases of COVID-19 in the city’s main zip code through October 14.

Oak Ridge’s main zip code is 37830.

The Tennessee Department of Health does not publish the number of COVID-19 cases by city or zip code. It does publish the number of COVID-19 cases by county, and it publishes trend maps by zip code, although it doesn’t give the precise number of cases per zip code.

Smith has analyzed the data and the maps to come up what she calls her best-guess estimate: 600 to 700 cases. That’s a bit more than 2 percent of the city’s population.

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Sewer testing finds significant increase in COVID particles in east plant

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A chart by the Oak Ridge Public Works Department shows the results of testing wastewater for COVID-19. The particles per liter have increased significantly in the east plant during the past week, putting it in the red zone for uncontrolled transmission. The east plant is the area generally east of New York Avenue and north of Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The most recent testing for evidence of COVID-19 in the city’s sewer system documented a significant increase in particles per liter in the east plant, putting that area in a red zone for uncontrolled transmission.

The east plant is the area generally east of New York Avenue and north of Oak Ridge Turnpike.

In the last test, the east plant was up to 2.4 million positive genetic particles per liter. That was an increase of almost 35 times from the prior weekly test result of 69,000 positive genetic particles per liter, according to information provided by Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters at a City Council work session on Tuesday evening.

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Autism Breakthrough hosts 21-Day Virtual Challenge, Virtual 5K Race

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The Volunteer CrossFit Team from Oak Ridge participated in the 2019 Breakthrough Run in honor of Gus Beehan, in the wagon, and Gus’ cousin Luke Koksal. (Submitted photo)

Autism Breakthrough of Knoxville is hosting a 21-Day Virtual Challenge November 5-25, featuring individual runs, walks and talks that replace its annual spring 5K Run for Autism.

Breakthrough is inviting the community to learn more about adults on the autism spectrum through the 21-day journey with stories from families of adults with autism and discussions with leading professionals knowledgeable in the field of autism. Its annual 5K Run will be held during the challenge, although virtually this year because of COVID-19.

“In April we made the decision to postpone our Annual 5K Run out of concern for runners’ health and safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those concerns remain present today,” race chair Happy Lee said.

“We hope you will take the challenge to run, walk, listen, and talk about issues facing adults on the spectrum today. We invite you to hear our stories and share them with friends and family each day during the challenge,” Lee added. [Read more…]

City offers tips to prevent spread of COVID-19 during Halloween

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The City of Oak Ridge does not regulate Halloween activities, but it has offered health safety tips and alternatives to celebrating the spooky season during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many traditional Halloween activities can be high-risk for spreading viruses, the city said in a press release. If you might have COVID-19 or might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, you should not participate in in-person Halloween festivities and should not give out candy to trick-or-treaters, the city said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), these are some low-risk activities:

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Oak Ridge Electric Department partners with TVA to donate another $10,000 to ADFAC

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The Oak Ridge Electric Department has partnered with the Tennessee Valley Authority to award another $10,000 to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) to help the local community during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, a press release said.

The funds will be used to help meet the essential needs of the residents of Oak Ridge, including rent, housing, and utilities, the press release said. This donation is in addition to the $10,000 that was donated to ADFAC back in April.

“These funds have been able to assist more than 160 households in Oak Ridge since March, with much needed assistance paying for utilities and rent,” said Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs. “We are very grateful for this opportunity and hope it reduces the potential for things like utility termination and eviction.”

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Updated: COVID-19 cases appear to be trending back up in Anderson County

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A graph shows confirmed new cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

Note: This story was updated at 3 p.m. Oct. 16

After peaking in July and falling in August, the average number of new COVID-19 cases per day appears to be trending back up in Anderson County.

In the past two weeks, the seven-day average of new cases in Anderson County was more than 15 per day, according to calculations by Oak Ridge Today. The county had 100 new cases between Friday and Wednesday.

Twice in the past three days, the number of new cases reported in one day has been 30 or more. The Tennessee Department of Health reported 30 new cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County on Monday. Thirty-five more new cases were reported on Wednesday.

That’s a level generally not seen since late July, the worst month of the pandemic so far. The highest number of cases reported in the county in one day was 39 on July 23 and again on July 27.

The average number of new cases per day fell in August after the July peak and then appeared to generally plateau for a month or so. But now the overall trend seems to be one of rising new case numbers, especially since an early September low.

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ORNL engineer dies of COVID-19

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William “Bill” Lee Collier

An engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory died of COVID-19 on Saturday.

It’s the first death of an ORNL employee due to COVID-19.

The engineer, William Collier, 59, became sick the last weekend of August. He appears to have contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the community, the lab said Tuesday.

Collier worked in the Nonreactor Nuclear Facilities Division at ORNL. His obituary said he grew up in Oak Ridge, graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1979, and graduated from Tennessee Technological University in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He worked for 37 years at ORNL and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

“The loss of a coworker was a possibility we have feared since the pandemic began, and our hearts go out to their family, friends, and colleagues,” ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said in a message to staff members Tuesday. “This news tragically underscores the significance of the lab’s efforts to understand and combat COVID-19 and hardens our commitment to preventing its transmission and spread, through our own behaviors on campus and through research that is aiding the global fight against the virus.”

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