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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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Roane County requires masks

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A graph shows the number of new COVID-19 cases in Roane County by month since the pandemic began in March. Note: The data for November is through Nov. 22, a partial month. (Graph by Oak Ridge Today)

Face masks are now required in Roane County to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Roane County Executive Ron Woody announced the mask mandate on Monday morning. It is effective immediately.

“I hope this community will take this order without causing more divisions among our citizens,” Woody said. He hopes no law enforcement will be needed.

The west end of Oak Ridge is in Roane County, although most of the city’s residents live in Anderson County.

Roane County’s cases and deaths have risen during the past month, Woody said. Roane County has reported almost four times as many COVID-19 deaths so far this month, 15, than in the previous high month—four in September. The county has reported more new cases so far this month, 717, than in the previous high month—543 in October.

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Schools ask people to wear masks, maintain distances

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In a letter last week, Oak Ridge Schools officials asked people to wear masks, maintain physical distances from people who live outside their home, and wash their hands.

There has been a recent surge in COVID-19 cases among students and staff members in Oak Ridge Schools. The surge began after fall break, although it’s not clear if the two events are connected.

On Monday, the school system returned middle school students to alternating schedules as the number of students who have to be quarantined increases. High school students remain on the alternating schedules, and elementary and preschool students continue with classes five days per week.

In their letter, school officials said they were asking the community to do what the students and teachers are doing to stay healthy in order to maintain and increase educational and extracurricular activities.

“Wear your mask, social distance, wash your hands, and understand that activities you participate in outside of the school day can easily jeopardize our ability to continue in-person education,” the letter said.

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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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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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Middle schools returning to alternating schedules

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Starting Monday, middle school students who attend classes in person will return to the alternating schedules used earlier this year, Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said in a letter to families and staff members on Friday.

The transition back to alternating schedules is due to an increase in the number of students being quarantined, Borchers said. Quarantined students cannot attend school at all for face-to-face instruction, he said.

“We realized that bringing all middle school students together had the potential to increase the number of students we would be sending home to quarantine when a single peer tests positive for COVID-19,” Borchers said. “Due to the increase in the number of students being quarantined, it is our plan to transition back to the alternating A/B schedule effective Monday, November 16, 2020.”

Most students at the middle schools and high school had started the school year with staggered schedules. A minority of students selected an online-only option.

Using the staggered schedules, some students have attended classes on Mondays and Thursdays, and others have attended on Tuesdays and Fridays. Students have then had online classes the other three days.

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Tennessee reports record COVID deaths, hospitalizations

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Image courtesy Tennessee Department of Health

Tennessee reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations on Wednesday.

The Tennessee Department of Health reported 89 more deaths and 1,713 current hospitalizations (up by 79). That’s the most deaths ever reported in one day due to COVID-19 in Tennessee and the highest number of current hospitalizations.

The previous high number of deaths in one day in Tennessee was 78 on Friday, October 30.

The previous high number of current hospitalizations was 1,634 on Tuesday. And Monday (1,543) was the previous high before that.

The statewide positivity rate, 11.67 percent, remained high on Wednesday.

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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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Anderson reports 125 new COVID cases as state upgrades system

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A daily snapshot of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, includes, among other information, the daily number of new cases and the daily positivity rate. (Graphic by Tennessee Department of Health)

One hundred twenty-five new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Anderson County this weekend as the state upgraded its surveillance system while warning, on Saturday, of higher potential new case numbers across the state as a backlog is cleared.

Anderson County reported 63 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, a record high, and another 62 new cases on Sunday.

Another 53 new cases were reported on Monday. From Friday to Monday, 217 new cases were reported in the county.

Before Saturday, the previous daily high in Anderson County was 46.

The 14-day average of new cases in the county exceeded 30 new cases per day for the first time. It was 31.1 on Sunday. The average in the previous two-week period was 21.6.

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Roane reports 67 new cases of COVID in one day, positivity rate near 20 percent

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A daily snapshot of COVID-19 cases in Roane County on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, includes, among other information, the daily number of new cases and the daily positivity rate. (Graphic by Tennessee Department of Health)

Roane County reported a record-high new 67 COVID-19 cases on Monday, and the test positivity rate in the county is very high, close to 20 percent, according to data published by the Tennessee Department of Health.

In a Facebook update, Roane County Executive Ron Woody reported an even higher number of new cases on Monday, 72. Woody said about half of those cases might be linked to one group of people.

The previous record of new daily cases in Roane County was 41 on Wednesday, October 28. (The high in Anderson County, also reported last week, is 46.)

The 14-day case average through Thursday was 26.2 new cases per day. That’s up from 15.3 in the previous two-week period in Roane County and higher than the current two-week average of 24.9 new cases per day in Anderson County.

On Thursday, the state health department said the seven-day average of the positivity rate in Roane County was 19.4 percent. That’s very high. The World Health Organization has recommended that the positivity rate be at 5 percent or lower for 14 days before activities re-open. The daily positivity rate measures the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests out of the new daily tests.

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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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