The daily average of new COVID-19 cases in Anderson County the past week fell to a level last seen in early July, about five new cases per day.

Last week’s average of 5.4 new cases per day is about a 40 percent drop from the average nine new cases reported per day during the previous week.

It’s the third straight week of a decline in the average number of new cases per day in Anderson County.

Although it’s falling, the seven-day average remains higher than it was in late June, before the case growth started to accelerate in the county.

The highest seven-day average, as calculated by Oak Ridge Today, was in late July, when Anderson County averaged more than 24 new cases of COVID-19 per day. July appears to have been the worst month of the pandemic so far.

Although it has climbed back up some, the average number of new cases of COVID-19 per day in Anderson County fell by about 50 percent in the week that ended Tuesday.

It was the second consecutive week of a smaller number of new cases per day, on average, of COVID-19 in Anderson County.

It’s not clear what led to the drop in new cases per day or whether it might be related to the more widespread use of masks, including at businesses that started requiring them in the second half of July.

In the week that ended Tuesday, August 11, there was an average of 9.7 new cases of COVID-19 per day in Anderson County. That’s a level not seen since the first half of July, after the growth in COVID-19 cases had started to accelerate in the county.

The average 9.7 new cases per day last week was about 50 percent fewer cases per day than the average 18.6 new cases reported each day in the previous week, the seven-day period that ended Tuesday, August 4.

But since Tuesday, the average number of cases per day has climbed back up a bit to 12.2.

The highest average number of new cases per day, as tracked by Oak Ridge Today, was in the week ending Tuesday, July 28, when there were about 24.7 new cases per day. July appears to have been the worst month of the pandemic in Anderson County so far.

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.