Two more COVID-19 deaths were reported in Anderson County on Friday as the state reported a record-high number of deaths, 78, and the current upward trend in new cases has surpassed the July peak. A new case was reported in Oak Ridge Schools (a staff member at Oak Ridge High School), and two more hospitalizations were reported in Anderson County.
COVID-19 cases have been surging up for the second time this year in Anderson County and Tennessee, and heading up for the third time nationwide. It’s not clear when any of those upward trends might peak.
Anderson County reported record-high one-day increases on Wednesday (40) and Thursday (46). The new case counts were lower on Friday (35) and Saturday (20).
The county has had a total 1,868 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began March 20. There have been 16 deaths and 49 hospitalizations.
On Saturday, the Tennessee Department of Health reported there are 272 active cases in Anderson County and 1,580 inactive/recovered cases.
The 14-day case average continues to climb. On Friday, it was 25.0 new cases per day, on average, up from 17.9 in the previous two-week period.
And the seven-day average of the positivity rate was high, 10.8 percent. The positivity rate measures how many positive test results are found each day among the new daily tests.
In Tennessee, there have been 260,672 cases since March 5, with 3,353 deaths. Hospitalizations have been at record highs, and there were 1,399 current hospitalizations on Saturday, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. (The graphs above are through Friday.)
The statewide positivity rate also remains high. It was 11.85 percent on Saturday, 10.85 percent on Friday, 9.50 percent on Thursday, and 10.68 percent on Wednesday.
New cases are at a record-high nationally as well, with more than 99,000 cases in one day on Friday in the United States. That’s a world record. Many states are reporting record numbers of cases during the fall surge.
In Tennessee, Roane County reported 1,460 COVID-19 cases through Saturday, with eight deaths and 39 hospitalizations.
Oak Ridge is in both Anderson and Roane counties, although most of the city’s residents live in Anderson County.
Knox County, where many Oak Ridge workers and residents live and shop, has had 13,445 cases, with 96 deaths and 462 hospitalizations.
To the south, Loudon County has had 1,711 cases, with 13 deaths and 50 hospitalizations.
Northwest of Oak Ridge, Morgan County has had 462 cases, with seven deaths and 12 hospitalizations.
In Oak Ridge, there have been 39 COVID-19 cases among school students and staff since the school year started, with 32 student cases and seven staff cases. The staff member at ORHS whose positive test was announced Friday was last in the building on Wednesday, Oak Ridge Superintendent Bruce Borchers said. (See this previous story for more information about other cases among school students and staff members during the past two weeks.)
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