Note: This story was updated at 5:45 p.m.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Tennessee passed 10,000 on Tuesday.
The number of new cases reported fell to 134. That was just a 1.4 percent daily increase in COVID-19 cases, the lowest percentage increase going back to at least March 20.
It came just two days after the biggest one-day increase. On Sunday, 478 new COVID-19 cases were reported, the most new cases reported in one day in Tennessee.
But Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey has urged residents to not focus too much on the daily variations in the number of cases. People should instead focus on trends, Piercey said.
On Tuesday, the Tennessee Department of Health reported 10,052 COVID-19 cases and 188 deaths. There have been 894 hospitalizations and 4,921 recoveries. The death rate, compared to total number of reported cases, remains at 2 percent, and the hospitalization rate is at 9 percent. The recovered rate is at 49 percent.
The number of cases in Anderson County remains at 24. One person has died in Anderson County, and 20 patients have recovered. There have been 1,372 negative test results in Anderson County.
There have been 161,928 COVID-19 tests in Tennessee.
In the past week, the daily growth in the number of new cases in the state has ranged between 1.4 percent and 6.1 percent. Testing has increased significantly, by roughly 47,000 tests, including at state prisons and at free drive-through sites. A significant number of new cases have recently been reported at the state prisons, including at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville.
The number of COVID-19 cases increased by more than 2,000 in Tennessee last week as testing increased by more than 40,000.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has said expanding testing capacity is an important step to re-open the state’s economy. The governor has announced that he will not extend a stay-at-home order past April 30, and restaurants in 89 of the state’s 95 counties were able to re-open Monday at 50 percent occupancy. Retailers are able to re-open in those counties on Wednesday at 50 percent occupancy, and gyms and exercise facilities can open on Friday.
COVID-19 is contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly. Patients who are 60 years old and older appear to be especially vulnerable, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Health. More than 80 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the state have been among patients who are 60 years old and older.
The largest percentage of COVID-19 cases continues to be among patients who are 21 to 30 years old. That age group accounted for 1,928 cases, or 19 percent of patients as of Tuesday. That age group combined with four others (31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-70) accounted for 7,990 cases, or 79 percent of them, on Tuesday.
The average age of COVID-19 patients in Tennessee has been 44. The age range of patients has been between 0 and 100.
In Tennessee, about 9 percent of patients who have tested positive or are presumed to have tested positive for COVID-19 have been hospitalized (894 of 10,052 cases). The state does not report which counties the hospitalizations occurred in, and it’s not clear how many of the patients remain in the hospital.
About 2 percent of patients have died (188 of 10,052 cases).
About 49 percent of patients have recovered (4,921 of 10,052 cases). The Tennessee Department of Health said recovered patients are those who have been confirmed to not have symptoms and have completed their required isolation period—or it’s been at least 21 days since they had their first test confirming their illness.
There have been 161,928 COVID-19 tests in Tennessee at the state public health laboratory and at other labs. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state includes both confirmed cases and cases that are presumed to be positive. About 6.2 percent of tests in Tennessee have been positive.
On Tuesday, the state reported that 44 of the deaths from COVID-19 have occurred in Shelby County, which includes Memphis in West Tennessee. There have been 35 deaths in Sumner County northeast of Nashville, and 25 in Davidson County, which includes Nashville in Middle Tennessee.
Davidson County has reported 2,383 COVID-19 cases, and Shelby County has reported 2,376.
Seven Nashville-area counties had 4,254 total cases on Tuesday: Cheatham (42), Davidson (2,383), Robertson (139), Rutherford (434), Sumner (608), Williamson (399), and Wilson (249). That was about 42.3 percent of the state’s total.
There have been 13 deaths in Hamilton County, which has 149 cases and includes Chattanooga in southeast Tennessee, and five deaths in Knox County, which includes Knoxville in East Tennessee. Knox County has had 214 cases, with 196 of those recovered on Saturday.
Besides Knox County, here were the case totals in other counties surrounding Anderson County on Tuesday: Campbell (14, with one death and 12 recoveries), Loudon (28, with no deaths and 22 recoveries), Morgan (6, with no deaths and six recoveries), Roane (7, with no deaths and seven recoveries), Scott (11, with no deaths and 11 recoveries), and Union (3, with no deaths and two recoveries).
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