Oak Ridge Today

Covenant Health receives first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine

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Covenant Health, which includes Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, received its first shipment of the first approved COVID-19 vaccine in the United States on Thursday.

It’s the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. That’s a new type of vaccine, a messenger RNA, or mRNA, vaccine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an emergency use authorization for the vaccine on Friday for patients 16 years old and older.

The first round of the vaccine will be offered to Covenant Health employees working in environments that are considered high risk or high exposure to COVID-19.

Receiving the vaccine is voluntary for staff, Covenant Health said in an announcement Thursday. The vaccine will be administered on a planned schedule at all Covenant Health acute care facilities. The vaccine will also be available for home health employees and employees who work in long-term care facilities, the announcement said.

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December now the worst month for COVID-19

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These charts show the number of COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations reported by month in Anderson County. Note: December is a partial month. (Charts by Oak Ridge Today)

With two weeks remaining, December has become the worst month for COVID-19 in Anderson County.

The number of new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations this month have all passed November’s totals. Until now, November had been the worst month.

In the first 16 days of December, 1,354 new cases of COVID-19, 14 deaths, and 22 hospitalizations were reported in Anderson County, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

Those are all higher than the 1,239 cases, 13 deaths, and 21 hospitalizations reported in the 30 days of November.

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AC Schools switches to online learning, cancels extracurricular activities

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Anderson County is switching to online teaching starting Tuesday and canceling extracurricular activities because of the recent increase in COVID-19 cases and quarantines, among other considerations.

The changes could be in effect through January 5.

Here is what the school system posted online:

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COVID-19: Nine deaths, 14 hospitalizations, 1,000 cases in nine days

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Note: This story was updated at 12:20 p.m. Dec. 16.

Nine deaths, 14 hospitalizations, and 1,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Anderson County in the nine-day period that ended Tuesday. That’s more deaths, hospitalizations, and new cases in a little more than a week than has been reported in all previous months except November.

With exceptions, Anderson County courts suspend in-person cases until January

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Anderson County courts announced on Monday that they will suspend in-person appearances and cases, with certain exceptions, starting Wednesday and continuing until early January.

The suspension of those in-person appearances and cases due to COVID-19 was announced by county judges, the district attorney general, district public defender, and child support magistrate.

The exceptions to the suspension of in-person hearings include “important emergency hearing exceptions or constitutionally-mandated processes such as the setting of bail and arraignment of those in custody,” according to a press release from the judicial officials. The courts will remain open for any constitutionally required function, and exceptions to the suspension of in-person business could include matters that are urgent or involve important rights such as personal liberty, the press release said. 

The other in-person appearances and cases will be suspended after the close of business Wednesday, December 9, through January 4, 2021.

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For members: Mason sentenced to 28 years for gun, drug charges after allegedly trying to shoot deputy

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Charles Mason Preliminary Hearing July 25 2019
One count of attempted first-degree murder and five aggravated assault charges filed against Charles Edward Mason, now 53, of Anderson County, were sent to the grand jury after a preliminary hearing in Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton on Thursday, July 25, 2019. Mason was sentenced to more than 28 years on federal gun and drug charges in the case in a U.S. District Court hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 1:40 p.m. Dec. 10.

KNOXVILLE—An Anderson County man previously convicted of two homicides and charged with attempted murder last year after allegedly trying to shoot a deputy was sentenced to more than 28 years in federal prison on Wednesday on federal gun and drug charges.

For members: Wildcats finish second in state

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats finished second in Class 5A in Tennessee this season, losing to Summit of Spring Hill 28-7 in the state football championship on Friday.

It was Oak Ridge’s first trip to the state championship since 2005.

For members: Summit at ORNL remains second-most powerful supercomputer

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Pictured above being interviewed by a CNBC television crew before a ceremony on Friday afternoon, June 8, 2018, for the then-new Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are Ginni Rometty, left, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of IBM; Rick Perry, second from right, former U.S. Department of Energy secretary; and Jensen Huang, right, founder, president, and CEO of NVIDIA. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory remains the second-fastest supercomputer in the world and the most powerful in the United States.

The Japanese supercomputer Fugaku is still number one in the world, according to a TOP500 supercomputer ranking released in November.

Wildcats play for state championship Friday

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the South Doyle Cherokees 14-0 on Blankenship Field this past Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, in a semifinal game to advance to the state final for the first time since 2005. (Photo by Barry Houchin, used with permission)

Oak Ridge will play for a state football championship this Friday.

The Wildcats (11-3) beat South Doyle 14-0 this past Friday in a semifinal game to advance to the state final for the first time since 2005.

Oak Ridge will now play Summit (13-1) of Spring Hill in the Blue Cross Bowl Class 5A state championship at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Wildcats scored early in the first quarter against South Doyle (10-4) on Blankenship Field last Friday after a fumble recovery by Jacob Berven. Oak Ridge senior quarterback Mitchell Gibbons rolled right and threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Cole Adams, who was able to push past two South Doyle defenders and reach his right arm into the end zone near the right pylon.

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For members: COVID-19 cases about double, deaths almost triple in November

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Compared to previous highs, the number of COVID-19 cases about doubled in Anderson County in November, and the number of deaths almost tripled. The number of hospitalizations was also the highest ever.

It was the worst month of the pandemic so far.

First snow in Oak Ridge

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A light layer of snow, measured at about one-half inch or less, is pictured above at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Snow fell in Oak Ridge starting Monday afternoon and continuing Tuesday morning, leaving a thin layer of snow on grass, cars, and homes.

Oak Ridge Today measured a maximum of one-half inch of snow at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.

The National Weather Service in Morristown forecast that Tuesday would be mostly cloudy near Clinton, gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 38. Tuesday night could be mostly clear, with a low around 22.

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More than 100 COVID cases reported among students, staff this school year

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This graph shows COVID-19 cases reported by school week at the high school, two middle schools, and all other schools (four elementary schools, preschool, and Secret City Academy). (Graph by Oak Ridge Today).

More than 100 COVID-19 cases have been reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools since the school year began July 29.

An Oak Ridge Today tally shows 117 total cases, while an Oak Ridge Schools dashboard shows 115.

Most of the cases, 94, have been reported among students, while 21 have been reported among staff members, according to the school system’s dashboard.

The Oak Ridge Schools dashboard, which was last updated Tuesday, showed 65 recovered cases of COVID-19 and 50 current. The school system does not report information about the outcomes of individual cases, but as of mid-November, all confirmed cases were reported to have been relatively mild.

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported by Oak Ridge Schools dropped significantly last week, but the number of new cases reported among staff members increased.

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