So far, the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools has increased about 15 times faster this year than last year.
At about this time last year, there were 12 cases of COVID-19 reported in Oak Ridge Schools.
This year, in the same time period, there have been 181 cases reported.
Graphing the two together makes last year’s increase in cases seem relatively flat compared to the large increase in cases this year.
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Note: This story was last updated at 12 a.m.
The Oak Ridge Board of Education approved a mask mandate in a 3-1 vote on Monday.
The approval of the mask mandate, which is similar to a mandate at four Anderson County schools, occurred as the school system reported about 180 COVID-19 cases among students and staff members in less than three weeks. COVID cases have now been reported at all schools: the preschool, all four elementary schools, both middle schools, the high school, and Secret City Academy.
The mask mandate approved Monday will require masks indoors in school buildings unless the school system has received a written opt-out notice from a parent or guardian in compliance with an executive order issued by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee last week.
The Oak Ridge school year started Wednesday, July 28, with face masks being optional. However, as cases increased significantly in three schools, masks were required there. Those three schools were Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School.
But when the governor announced his order last week, Oak Ridge Schools said it would no longer require masks. That changed with the mandate approved by the school board on Monday.
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A jury found she had been sexually harassed while working for Anderson County, but the county was not liable.
Then, since she did not prevail in the civil trial, she was ordered to pay about $1,800 in costs to Anderson County.
New daily vaccinations have about doubled in Anderson County in the 40 days since COVID-19 cases began increasing.
However, the increase in the seven-day average of daily vaccinations has not been as large as the increase in cases, according to calculations by Oak Ridge Today. And less than 50 percent of Anderson County residents are fully vaccinated.
The number of new COVID-19 cases reported each day began rising again in Anderson County on July 12 as the United States began experiencing a fourth surge driven by the more transmissible Delta variant.
From July 12-18, Anderson County reported a daily average of five new COVID cases per day. At the same time, there were 98.4 new vaccines per day.
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The Oak Ridge Wildcats lost to South-Doyle in the opening game of the football season on Thursday.
Three interceptions led to touchdowns, with two of those scored by the Cherokees. The final score was 28-20 in favor of South-Doyle.
A Knoxville journalist will discuss misinformation and disinformation during Lunch with the League in Oak Ridge on September 21.
Jesse Mayshark is co-owner, editor, and publisher of the Compass, a news website covering Knoxville and Knox County government, politics, and business.
The topic of the September 21 talk is misinformation, disinformation, and the differences between the two; their causes; and impact on political processes, including redistricting, a press release said.
It said Mayshark has a variety of experiences as a journalist, having served as editor of Knoxville’s former weekly, Metro Pulse; as a copy editor and freelance music writer for The New York Times; as a reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel and the Mountain Press in Sevier County; and as a regular contributor to the music magazine, No Depression.
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Oak Ridge Schools will not require face masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 after Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed an executive order Monday allowing parents to opt out of mask mandates issued by school or health boards. However, Oak Ridge Schools will continue to strongly recommend students wear masks in schools where there is an increase in confirmed COVID cases or evidence of the virus being transmitted in the building.
Before the governor’s order, Oak Ridge Schools had required masks at three schools: Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School. Now, the use of masks is strongly encouraged in those schools but not required. All three schools have reported more than 20 COVID cases each.
The governor’s order allowed parents and guardians to use a written notification to opt out of mask mandates for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Some parents and government officials supported the order, while others, including doctors and parents, opposed it. School districts in Nashville and Shelby County said they will continue to require masks. That prompted a retort from Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, who said that “the governor and the General Assembly cannot and will not allow lawful orders to be defied.”
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Explore Oak Ridge will host the second annual Cars for Canines event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, August 21, at Melton Lake Park.
The event will consist of a car show sponsored by Summer Knights Cruisers, food trucks, live music, vendors, demonstrations, and pet-friendly fun all to benefit the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter and Anderson County Humane Society, a press release said.
This event is free, and everyone is welcome, including your four-legged friends, the press release said.
Car show registration is $20 and begins at 10 am. All classic cars, hot rods, and motorcycles are welcome to enter. Awards will be given to the top 25 vehicles and door prizes will be given during the event for registered vehicles, the release said.
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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s Sixth Annual Butterfly Festival will be available online beginning Saturday, September 18, a press release said. This year’s Butterfly Festival will again be virtual with outstanding lectures and special video programs for children, the release said.
The festival will go live online at 10 a.m. September 18 and remain available for you to watch at your convenience. You may register to be emailed the links for these free programs at www.utarboretumsociety.org. Registration for this event is required. These programs will be recorded, and closed captioning is available, the press release said.
Co-sponsored by the UT Institute of Agriculture, this event has become one of the most popular events annually with more than 2,000 people attending in 2019. Due to the uncertain nature of COVID-19 precautions, this year’s festival has been filmed in advance to be presented online. “This will be a different festival than in the past as there are no on-site activities, but we are excited to bring the public some great online options,” the press release said.
“To celebrate the spirit of the festival, we invited the public to order and decorate wooden butterflies,” the release said. “These butterflies will be on display throughout the month of September around our Visitors Center. We invite you to enjoy this display whenever you visit the Arboretum during September.”
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Thomas Harrison
Thomas Harrison, a group leader at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give an overview this evening of the work that ORNL performs for NASA’s space nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) program, a press release said.
ORNL performs research on materials, fuels, instrumentation and control components and techniques, and systems analysis, all of which are vital to the successful deployment of NTP, the press release said. Harrison will also describe some of the challenges facing the technology and the methods that ORNL researchers are using to overcome them.
Harrison is currently the Advanced Nuclear System Safety and Licensing Group Leader at ORNL, the press release said. [Read more…]
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Monday signed an executive order that gives parents the ability to opt their children out of local mask mandates. Parents can opt out of local mask mandates enacted by either school boards or health boards. Some doctors quickly objected to the governor’s order, and legal objections and questions have already been raised.
The governor said districts will make the decisions that they believe are best for their schools, but parents “will have the ultimate decision-making for their individual child’s health and well-being.
“Right now, some of the greatest frustration is occurring in our K-12 schools, especially around the issue of mask mandates,” Lee said in the announcement of his order. “While local decision-making is important, individual decision-making by a parent on issues regarding the health and well-being of their child is the most important.
“No one cares about the health and well-being of a child more than a parent. I am signing an executive order today that allows parents to opt their children out of a school mask mandate if either a school board or health board enacts one over a district.”
Masks are currently required in three Oak Ridge schools where at least 20 COVID-19 cases have been reported: Jefferson Middle School, Robertsville Middle School, and Willow Brook Elementary School. Masks are optional in the other schools. It wasn’t immediately clear how the governor’s order would affect mask mandates at the three Oak Ridge schools.
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The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Anderson County reached 44.1 new cases per day on Sunday. That’s the highest level since near the end of the winter peak in January.
Three more hospitalizations and two more deaths have been reported in Anderson County in the past two weeks, according to data published by the Tennessee Department of Health.
The average positivity rate remains high, about 17 percent. World Health Organization guidelines have recommended a positivity rate below 5 percent. The positivity rate measures the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests each day.
A total of 9,500 COVID-19 cases have been reported in Anderson County since the start of the pandemic on March 20, 2020. More than 10 percent of the county has been infected. There have been 237 hospitalizations and 181 deaths.
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