Oak Ridge Today

Updated: COVID-19 cases appear to be trending back up in Anderson County

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A graph shows confirmed new cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

Note: This story was updated at 3 p.m. Oct. 16

After peaking in July and falling in August, the average number of new COVID-19 cases per day appears to be trending back up in Anderson County.

In the past two weeks, the seven-day average of new cases in Anderson County was more than 15 per day, according to calculations by Oak Ridge Today. The county had 100 new cases between Friday and Wednesday.

Twice in the past three days, the number of new cases reported in one day has been 30 or more. The Tennessee Department of Health reported 30 new cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County on Monday. Thirty-five more new cases were reported on Wednesday.

That’s a level generally not seen since late July, the worst month of the pandemic so far. The highest number of cases reported in the county in one day was 39 on July 23 and again on July 27.

The average number of new cases per day fell in August after the July peak and then appeared to generally plateau for a month or so. But now the overall trend seems to be one of rising new case numbers, especially since an early September low.

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New daily COVID-19 case average remains near or above 10

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A graph shows confirmed new cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

The average number of new cases of COVID-19 per day has remained near or above 10 in Anderson County for more than a month.

That’s down from the peak average of about 20 new cases per day or more in late July. But it remains higher than the averages for March, when the pandemic began, and for April, May, June, and early July.

On Tuesday each week, Oak Ridge Today calculates the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases per day in Anderson County for the previous week.

That seven-day average passed an average of 10 new cases per day in early to mid-July before peaking at 24.7 new cases per day in late July. The average then fell in August before hitting a plateau at about 10 in mid-August. It has remained there, or close to it, with one exception since then.

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New daily COVID case average declines in Anderson County

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A graph shows confirmed new cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

The seven-day average of new daily cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County fell Tuesday, a reversal of a trend that had been in place since at least late June.

Still, the average number of new daily cases remained high, and it was higher than it has been in all but the previous week. And it’s not clear yet if the downward trend will continue.

The most recent seven-day average, in the week ending Tuesday, was 18.6 new COVID-19 cases per day. The highest it’s been, the week before, was 24.7. In late June, the county had an average of 3.43 new cases of COVID-19 per day.

Another trend that has reversed, at least for now: The number of active cases in the county fell four days in a row. It was 255 on Thursday. That was down more than 30 cases from a peak of 289 active cases on Sunday. Active cases are total cases minus recoveries and deaths.

In other potentially good news, the daily positivity rate, which measures the percentage of people who test positive for COVID-19 out of those who are tested, has fallen for at least two weeks.

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Updated: Anderson County has more than 500 COVID cases, reports two more deaths

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A graph shows total cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Tuesday, July 28, 2020. Another 36 cases were reported Wednesday. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m. We have added some of Wednesday’s COVID-19 statistics to this story, which initially focused on Tuesday’s numbers.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County rose to 500 on Tuesday, and the county has reported its fourth and fifth deaths due to the new coronavirus.

Three of the county’s five deaths have been in the past two weeks. Two of those have been in the past week.

On Wednesday, Anderson County reported another 36 new cases of COVID-19—just below the all-time high of 39—and the total number of cases climbed to 536.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the county has more than doubled in 13 days. There were 252 COVID-19 cases in Anderson County on July 16.

The 536 cases reported Wednesday means about 0.7 percent of the county’s roughly 77,000 residents have been infected with COVID-19.

A graph shows active cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Tuesday, July 28, 2020. Another 30 active cases were reported Wednesday. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

The number of active cases (total cases minus recoveries and deaths) continued to increase significantly, rising to 271 on Wednesday, according to data published by the Tennessee Department of Health. (The number of active cases had been 241 on Tuesday.) Active cases increased by 118 in Anderson County in one week. They have more than doubled in the past two weeks.

The county reported a record-high 39 new daily cases twice in the past week, first on Thursday and then again on Monday.

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