As of Thursday, about half of the 154 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee were diagnosed in people between 21-40 years old, according to numbers published by the Tennessee Department of Health.
The highest number of cases, 43, were confirmed in people 21 to 30 years old, the data said. That’s about 28 percent of cases.
The next-highest number of cases, 32, were confirmed in people 31-40 years old, the health department said. That’s about 21 percent of cases.
Together, those two age groups account for 75 cases, or about 49 percent of the total.
There is a smaller number of cases, 24, or about 16 percent, in the 41- to 50-year-old age group.
The number of cases falls to 18, or about 12 percent, for people ages 51-60.
There are 10 cases (6 percent) in the next largest age group, people ages 61-70.
In other age groups, there are nine cases (6 percent) among 11- to 20-year-olds, eight cases each (5 percent) among people ages 71-80 and over 80, and two cases among children ages 0-10.
It’s not clear how the effects of the illness have varied among the different age groups in Tennessee, but the Tennessee Department of Health says the people most vulnerable to COVID-19 are those older than 60 years old and those with chronic health conditions, including people with disabilities. Symptoms of COVID-19 include cough, fever, and shortness of breath.
COVID-19 had been confirmed in 17 Tennessee counties at the time the Tennessee Department of Health published its data on Thursday afternoon, but shortly after that list was published, Anderson County confirmed its first case, meaning the contagious respiratory illness is now in at least 18 of the state’s 95 counties.
The Tennessee State Public Health Laboratory has completed 497 COVID-19 tests. Of those, 464 were negative, and 33 were positive. That means about 93 percent of the state lab tests have returned a negative result, and roughly 7 percent came back positive.
Other commercial and private laboratories reported 121 positive tests. The total number of tests completed by those labs is not reported. Neither is the number of negative tests.
There are 15 hospitalizations but no deaths, said Lisa Piercey, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health.
About half of the state’s cases are in Davidson County, which includes Nashville, in Middle Tennessee. Davidson County has 75 cases.
There are another 30 cases in Williamson County, south of Nashville.
No other county has more than four cases. Shelby County, which includes Memphis in West Tennessee, has four cases. Sumner County has three cases, and Knox and Robertson counties each have two.
Counties with one case each are Campbell, Cheatham, Cumberland, Dyer, Hamilton, Jefferson, Montgomery, Rutherford, Sevier, Sullivan, and Wilson. Anderson County will presumably be added to that list after the COVID-19 confirmation on Thursday.
Residents of other states and countries account for 26 cases in Tennessee. Those are residents of other states and countries who were tested here. There is one case reported of a person of unknown residence, according to the Tennessee Department of Health update on Thursday afternoon.
Tennessee reported its first case on Thursday, March 5, in Middle Tennessee.
See the Tennessee Department of Health page about the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 here.
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