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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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Anderson, Roane report five more COVID deaths

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This graph shows the number of COVID-19 deaths by month in Anderson, Knox, and Roane counties. Note: November is a partial month. This data is through Nov. 17. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Anderson and Roane counties reported five more deaths due to COVID-19 on Tuesday, and Knox County reported another nine deaths.

November is the deadliest month for COVID-19 in all three counties, and there are about two weeks remaining in the month. Nine deaths have been reported in both Anderson and Roane counties so far this month, and 30 deaths have been reported in Knox County.

Of the five deaths reported Tuesday, two were in Anderson County, and three were in Roane County.

The nine deaths in Roane County this month are more than the eight reported in all of the previous months.

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State reports almost 8,000 new COVID cases, county almost 100

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Tennessee reported record highs of almost 8,000 new cases of COVID-19 across the state on Monday, and Anderson County reported a record high of almost 100 new cases.

The Tennessee Department of Health reported 7,951 new cases of COVID-19 across the state on Monday afternoon, and Anderson County reported 93. Both are record highs and far above what is normal, in the range of at least twice as high or more, compared to most previous peaks.

Halfway through, November has most COVID deaths in Anderson, Roane

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This graph shows COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations by month in Anderson County. Note: The data for November is through Nov. 15, a partial month. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

More COVID-19 deaths were reported in Anderson and Roane counties during the first two weeks of November than in any previous month. That means, with two weeks remaining, November is already the worst month of the pandemic for deaths in both counties.

If current trends continue, there could also be more hospitalizations this month than in any previous month in both counties.

Anderson County reported four more deaths due to COVID-19 between Friday and Sunday, and five since Wednesday. The county has had six more hospitalizations in the past seven days.

Roane County reported four more deaths since Tuesday and seven additional hospitalizations.

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Oak Ridge Schools reports 11 COVID cases in one day

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. Note: Week 16 started Wednesday, Nov. 11, so it’s a partial week. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge Schools reported 11 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a record high.

That’s almost as many cases reported in one day as has been reported in each of the previous two weeks. Twelve cases were reported in each of the last two weeks.

Twenty-three new cases have been reported since Wednesday, according to an Oak Ridge Today tally.

With the new cases, the school system has reported 56 cases of COVID-19 since October 21. The surge started after fall break, although it’s not clear if the two events are connected.

The new cases reported Friday included four students at Oak Ridge High School, three students at Jefferson Middle School, three students at Robertsville Middle School, and a staff member at Woodland Elementary School.

Recently, the most cases, 11, have been reported among Jefferson Middle School students. Those 11 cases were reported in nine days, since Thursday, November 5.

In that same time, the second-highest number of cases, nine, were reported among Robertsville Middle School students.

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COVID surge continues among students

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A graph shows the number of COVID-19 cases in Oak Ridge Schools reported by school week since Wednesday, July 29, 2020, and continuing through Tuesday, Nov. 10. Students were on fall break for parts of weeks nine and 11, and for all of week 10. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

The COVID-19 surge that started among students and staff members at Oak Ridge Schools three weeks ago continued in the school week that ended Tuesday, with the highest number of recent cases reported among Jefferson Middle School students.

There have been five COVID-19 cases reported among Jefferson Middle School students since Thursday. That’s close to half of the cases reported in Oak Ridge Schools in the past week.

There have been two student cases reported at Robertsville Middle School since Thursday and one student and one staff member case reported at Oak Ridge High School.

A total of 12 cases were reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools in the school week between last Wednesday and this Tuesday. That matched the total of 12 cases in the previous week. There were nine cases the week before. That’s a total of 33 cases in the past three weeks, or 11 per week on average.

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Highest number of new COVID cases reported in AC in October

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The graph at left above shows new COVID-19 cases in Anderson County by month, and the graph at right shows deaths and hospitalizations by month. (Graphs by Oak Ridge Today)

The highest number of new COVID-19 cases in Anderson County was reported in October. The increase in cases last month was about 37 percent larger than the earlier peak in July.

While October is now the peak month for cases so far, it wasn’t the worst for deaths or hospitalizations. There were three deaths due to COVID-19 in Anderson County in October and 10 hospitalizations. The most deaths, five, were reported in September, and the most hospitalizations, 16, were reported in July.

On Thursday, the Tennessee Department of Health reported that Anderson County had averaged 24.9 new cases per day during the past 14 days. That was up from 18.6 new cases per day, on average, during the previous two-week period.

The average positivity rate continues to be high. The seven-day average on Thursday was 12.6 percent, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

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Two more COVID deaths reported in AC as state reports record deaths

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A daily snapshot of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County on Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, includes, among other information, the daily number of new cases and the daily positivity rate. (Graphic by Tennessee Department of Health)

Two more COVID-19 deaths were reported in Anderson County on Friday as the state reported a record-high number of deaths, 78, and the current upward trend in new cases has surpassed the July peak. A new case was reported in Oak Ridge Schools (a staff member at Oak Ridge High School), and two more hospitalizations were reported in Anderson County.

COVID-19 cases have been surging up for the second time this year in Anderson County and Tennessee, and heading up for the third time nationwide. It’s not clear when any of those upward trends might peak.

Anderson County reported record-high one-day increases on Wednesday (40) and Thursday (46). The new case counts were lower on Friday (35) and Saturday (20).

The county has had a total 1,868 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began March 20. There have been 16 deaths and 49 hospitalizations.

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Updated: Anderson, Roane report record increases in COVID cases

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A daily snapshot of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, includes, among other information, the daily number of new cases and the daily positivity rate. (Graphic by Tennessee Department of Health)

Note: This story was updated at 4:45 p.m.

Anderson and Roane counties reported record-high one-day increases in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as the pandemic appears to have returned to or surpassed July levels. Anderson County set another record on Thursday.

Roane County reported 41 new cases on Wednesday, and Anderson County reported 40.

Update: Anderson County reported another record increase on Thursday, 46 new cases. It’s the second day of a record increase in COVID-19 cases in Anderson County.

The previous high in Anderson County was 39 on July 23. Until now, July had been the worst month of the pandemic.

The previous high in Roane County had been 34 on October 23. It followed an earlier peak of 33 on July 23.

Oak Ridge is in both Anderson and Roane counties. Most of the city’s residents live in Anderson County, but the west end of the city is in Roane County.

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Updated: Twenty-eight COVID-19 cases reported among students, schools staff

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Twenty-seven cases of COVID-19 have been reported among Oak Ridge Schools student and staff members, according to data posted by the school system. Note: One new case affecting an ORHS student was reported Monday afternoon, Oct. 26, 2020, bringing the total to 28. (Chart by Oak Ridge Schools)

Note: This story was updated with a new case at ORHS at 5:15 p.m.

Twenty-eight cases of COVID-19 have been reported among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools this school year, and six of those are current cases, according to data published by the school system.

The majority of the cases, 23 of the 28, have been among students. The most cases have been reported at Oak Ridge High School, with nine student cases and two staff cases, or 11 total.

Jefferson Middle School has had the second-highest total of cases, with five student cases and two staff cases, or seven total.

No cases have been reported at Linden Elementary School, Secret City Academy, and Willow Brook Elementary School.

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COVID positivity rates high in Anderson, surrounding counties

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COVID-19 data for Anderson County as reported by the Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee Department of Health)

The COVID-19 positivity rates in Anderson County and surrounding counties have been high recently, and one additional death and five more hospitalizations were reported in Anderson County in two days this week.

The positivity rate in Anderson County was close to 10 percent on Thursday and higher than 10 percent in five of the seven surrounding counties. It was highest in Union County, where the positivity rate was 18.4 percent.

The 14th death in Anderson County was reported by the Tennessee Department of Health on Thursday, and the five new hospitalizations were reported on Wednesday and Thursday.

The positivity rate measures the percentage of new daily tests that return positive results out of all the new daily tests. A higher positivity rate means more people are testing positive out of those who are tested each day.

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Sewer testing finds significant increase in COVID particles in east plant

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A chart by the Oak Ridge Public Works Department shows the results of testing wastewater for COVID-19. The particles per liter have increased significantly in the east plant during the past week, putting it in the red zone for uncontrolled transmission. The east plant is the area generally east of New York Avenue and north of Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The most recent testing for evidence of COVID-19 in the city’s sewer system documented a significant increase in particles per liter in the east plant, putting that area in a red zone for uncontrolled transmission.

The east plant is the area generally east of New York Avenue and north of Oak Ridge Turnpike.

In the last test, the east plant was up to 2.4 million positive genetic particles per liter. That was an increase of almost 35 times from the prior weekly test result of 69,000 positive genetic particles per liter, according to information provided by Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters at a City Council work session on Tuesday evening.

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