The number of new cases of COVID-19 remains low in Anderson County, but the rate of new cases per day is rising again. Also, the positivity rate has climbed back over 5 percent, and there have been four new hospitalizations due to COVID-19 in the past week.
About a week ago, the number of new cases per day was at about one. That was the lowest it had been since cases first started rising more than a year ago, before the first COVID-19 case peak in July 2020. The case average has been low for weeks after a slow decline starting in January.
In the past week, however, the new daily case rate has slowly climbed again. In the past two weeks, Anderson County has averaged three new cases of COVID-19 per day, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. That is up from an average of 1.1 in the prior 14 days.
The positivity rate, which had fallen and remained below 5 percent, has risen again also. It was 6.2 percent in the past seven days, the Tennessee Department of Health reported Monday. World Health Organization guidelines call for keeping the positivity rate below 5 percent. The positivity rate measures what percentage of patients test positive for COVID-19 out of those who are tested each day.
It’s not clear if the recent rise in cases in the county, although still low, is related to the spread of the Delta variant in Tennessee. State data shows that cases are increasing again in Tennessee after a low in mid- to late-June. The Tennessean has reported that new cases linked to the highly infectious Delta variant are on the rise across the country and disproportionately affecting unvaccinated populations. The number of new cases in Tennessee has risen from in the range of 200 per day to 400-500. Current hospitalizations have also risen about that much, from in the range of 200 or so to more than 400.
In Anderson County, 8,862 cases of COVID-19 have been reported since the pandemic began March 20, 2020. About 12 percent of the county’s roughly 77,000 residents have been infected with the new coronavirus.
There have been 234 hospitalizations since the pandemic began. That is up by four in the past week. About 2.6 percent of cases in Anderson County have resulted in hospitalizations.
There have been 176 deaths. That remains unchanged from a week ago. About 2 percent of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Anderson County have died.
On Tuesday, CNBC reported that the Delta variant now accounts for 83 percent of all sequenced COVID cases in the United States. (Read the story here: Delta variant now accounts for 83% of all sequenced Covid cases in the U.S., CDC Director Walensky says (cnbc.com).)
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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