Anderson County reported 23 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, another record just four days after the previous high, and the state added a record number of new daily cases, reporting more than 2,000 new daily cases for the first time.
Anderson County, which has about 77,000 residents, added another 12 cases on Thursday. That pushed the total number of cases in the county up to 178, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
The case growth in the county seems to have accelerated in the past eight days. During that time, the county has added 73 cases. That’s a 70 percent increase in cases in roughly a week. A week ago, on July 2, Anderson County had 105 cases.
The number of active cases in the county has jumped again. It had risen to 66 on Sunday before falling significantly on Monday and Tuesday. But it rose by about 30 on Wednesday and Thursday, and the number of active cases was at 86 on Thursday.
That’s more than double the 32 active cases reported in the county a week ago, on July 2. (Active cases are calculated by subtracting deaths and recoveries from total cases.) A month ago, the number of active cases was in the single digits.
The daily positivity rate in the county was more than 10 percent for the second time in less than a week on Wednesday. That means that more than one out of 10 people who were tested for COVID-19 tested positive. The rate hit 10.7 percent on Wednesday. It dropped to 7.9 percent on Thursday.
The county’s overall positivity rate, including all cases and all results, has been ticking up, rising from 1.3 percent in late June to roughly 2 percent on Thursday.
The case doubling time has dropped significantly in Anderson County. That means the number of cases is increasing at a faster rate. A week ago, the doubling time was more than 20 days. A few days ago, it had dropped to 17 days. On Thursday, it was down to 12 days. It’s not clear if that trend will last.
Here were the county’s numbers on Thursday:
- 178 total cases
- 2 deaths
- 12 total hospitalizations (current hospitalizations in the county aren’t available)
- 90 recoveries
- 86 active cases
- 9,001 tests
The county’s average number of new cases per day, measured over the previous 14 days, has almost tripled in the past week. It increased from an average of 2.5 new cases per day on July 2 to 7 new cases per day on Thursday.
Before the 23 new cases reported Wednesday, the previous high number of new daily cases in Anderson County was 18 on Saturday, July 4.
Outside the county, the statewide total number of cases increased by 2,472 on Wednesday, a record. It’s the third record daily increase this month. It’s 650 more cases reported in one day than the previous high of 1,822 new cases on Friday.
The state added another 1,605 cases on Thursday, and the total number of cases in Tennessee is now 57,591.
Tennessee, a state of about 6.8 million, has added about 10,000 cases in eight days, between July 2 and 9. That’s about a 24 percent increase in the total number of cases. It’s an average of more than 1,000 new cases per day.
During that same time, 90 more deaths have been reported, a 15 percent increase. Half of those, 45 of them, were reported on Wednesday and Thursday.
There have now been 710 deaths in Tennessee due to COVID-19.
While there was a record number of new cases on Wednesday, there was also a record number of new tests: 29,739.
But the daily positivity rate remained about the same as it has been: 8.3 percent. It dropped a bit to 7.4 percent on Thursday.
The hospitalization and death rates both continue to fall in Tennessee. The hospitalization rate dropped to 5.4 percent on Wednesday, and the death rate was down to 1.2 percent.
But the number of current COVID-positive hospitalizations continues to climb. It about doubled from three weeks ago, when it was about 400, to 800 on Wednesday. Still, there is hospital capacity available, according to data published by the Tennessee Department of Health.
In addition to the COVID-positive hospitalizations, there were another 335 hospitalizations of COVID-19 pending cases on Wednesday, the state health department said.
While hospitalization and death rates have fallen, the recovery rate has decreased as well. It’s now down to 58 percent. It had been as high as 66 percent or so not long ago.
The case doubling time continues to decrease in Tennessee, like it has been in Anderson County. The statewide case doubling time dropped to 29 days on Wednesday. Not long ago, it was about a month and a week.
But the death doubling time remains about unchanged at 43 days.
The number of active cases in Tennessee climbed to 23,272 on Thursday.
Here were the state’s numbers on Thursday:
- 57,591 total cases
- 710 deaths
- 3,023 total hospitalizations
- 32,736 recoveries
- 22,565 active cases
- 950,540 tests
The Memphis and Nashville areas remain the most affected by COVID-19. But the Chattanooga area and Knoxville area are also both significantly affected.
State, county statistics
The highest number of cases in the state is in Shelby County, which includes Memphis in West Tennessee. The case count there was 12,842 on Thursday. There have been 214 deaths in Shelby County.
In Davidson County, 12,549 cases have been reported, and 138 deaths have been reported. Davidson County includes Nashville in Middle Tennessee.
Other counties with case counts of more than 1,000 include Rutherford (Nashville area), with 3,326 cases and 38 deaths; Hamilton (Chattanooga area), with 3,088 cases and 37 deaths; Sumner (Nashville area), with 1,802 cases and 56 deaths; Williamson (Nashville area), with 1,591 cases and 15 deaths; Trousdale (Turner Trousdale Correctional Center), with 1,505 cases and five deaths; and Wilson (Nashville area), with 1,099 cases and 17 deaths.
Knox County, which is adjacent to Anderson County, also has more than 1,000 cases. On Thursday, it reported 1,471 cases. That was up from 1,171 on Sunday. Nine deaths have now been reported, an increase of two since Sunday, and up from five not long ago.
Another East Tennessee county, Sevier County, a tourist destination, has seen its case count climb significantly. Sevier County now has 863 cases and three deaths.
Here is COVID-19 case information about other counties surrounding Anderson County:
- Loudon County has reported 308 cases and one death.
- Roane County has reported 75 cases and no deaths.
- Campbell County has reported 65 cases and one death.
- Morgan County has reported 29 cases and one death.
- Scott County has reported 22 cases and no deaths.
- Union County has reported 20 cases and no deaths.
COVID-19 is a new, contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly. It can cause a range of health issues that can last weeks or months, including fevers, body aches, fatigue, coughing, and breathing problems, among other reported symptoms. The long-term effects remain unknown.
It can be spread by respiratory droplets from coughing, sneezing, talking, and singing. There is also debate about whether it might be spread by airborne transmission.
The disease appears to be especially deadly to patients who are 61 years old and older, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Health. In Tennessee, the number of deaths starts rising in the 41-50 age group, with 34 or more deaths in those age groups, and it continues to climb in older age groups. There have been between 136 and 231 deaths in the three oldest age groups: 61-70, 71-80, and 81 and older.
The largest number of cases continues to be among patients who are 21 to 30 years old, followed by patients who are 31 to 40, and then patients who are 41 to 50.
The average age of patients has dropped in the past few months. It’s now at about 39.
While some people report no symptoms or mild symptoms, others become seriously ill, sometimes for weeks, and the effects can sometimes last for months. Others are admitted to the hospital, and some patients end up in intensive care and on ventilators.
To help prevent the virus from spreading, officials have been repeatedly recommending that residents wear a face mask or covering when they are out of the house and around others, maintain a distance of at least six feet from other people when possible, and wash their hands frequently.
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