Governor cites Thanksgiving decisions while discussing state surge
Anderson County is averaging about one COVID-19 death and close to two hospitalizations per day, according to state data, as Tennessee tops the nation and world in new cases per day per capita.
Roane State will temporarily move to remote operations after winter break as part of the college’s efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Between January 4 and 8, RSCC campuses will be accessible only to essential personnel, a press release said. During this time, students and employees will still be served by email and phone as well as through virtual communication tools such as Zoom video conferencing.
“We have advised students, faculty, and staff to consider the latest CDC recommendations when making holiday plans this year,” Roane State President Chris Whaley explained. “This brief remote work period is an additional step we can take to keep our campus community healthy while still assisting students ahead of the spring semester.”
[Read more…]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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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.
[Read more…]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:
[Read more…]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.
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.
[Read more…]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.
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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Roane State Community College’s new Food Pantry On-the-Go is addressing food insecurity among students during the pandemic. Following highly positive feedback from its initial effort, the mobile food pantry’s next event is set for Wednesday, December 2, at the Campbell County Campus in LaFollette.
The event will be held in Room 101 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Roane State students from any of the college’s nine campuses will have the opportunity to shop—for free—for a wide variety of non-perishable and microwavable food items. Organizers hope the event will help students and their families stock up ahead of the winter break.
The first Food Pantry On-the-Go event was held in October at the Knox County Center for Health Sciences. These mobile events are the latest effort by the college to help students who may have food insecurity issues that have only increased due to COVID-19. Even prior to the pandemic, statistics showed that at least 40 percent of college students experienced some form of food insecurity.
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The executive order for face coverings that was issued by Roane County Executive Ron Woody on Monday could be in effect through December 29 unless Woody and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee extend the order.
Woody announced Monday morning that he was going to invoke the authority to mandate face masks in Roane County as authorized by Lee’s order in July.
The mask mandate does not apply to:
[Read more…]This Monday and Tuesday (November 23 and 24) are virtual learning days for K-12 students in Oak Ridge Schools.
Teachers are providing instruction from their classrooms to students, who are learning remotely from home. Building principals were expected to share details with families.
In a letter to families, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said elementary school students now have electronic devices and can use this opportunity to participate in true virtual learning.
Preschool students are continuing with their current schedule this week and are meeting in person on Monday, November 23, and Tuesday, November 24.
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