Oak Ridge Today

November already tied for deadliest month for COVID-19

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A chart of COVID-19 cases, deaths, and hospitalizations in Anderson County since March. Note: November is a partial month. (Chart by Oak Ridge Today)

In less than two weeks, November is already tied for deadliest month for COVID-19 in Anderson County, and if current trends continue, the county could have the most hospitalizations this month.

Since Tuesday, Anderson and Roane counties have reported six deaths and nine hospitalizations.

By Friday, five deaths due to COVID-19 had been reported in Anderson County in the first 13 days of November, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Health. That means November is already tied for September as deadliest month.

Three of the deaths were reported between Wednesday and Friday.

There have been 10 hospitalizations in Anderson County since November 1. That’s already tied with October, the second-worst month, and on track to surpass July, the worst month for hospitalizations. There were 16 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Anderson County in July.

Three of the new hospitalizations were reported Thursday.

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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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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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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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Anderson, Roane report record highs in new COVID-19 cases

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Free drive-through testing for COVID-19 is pictured above on Wednesday morning, April 15, 2020 in the Oak Ridge High School parking lot. Note: Some faces have been blurred in the photo above to protect patient privacy. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 7:30 p.m.

Anderson County reported 39 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, another record. And Roane County reported 33 new cases, also a record.

Oak Ridge is in Anderson and Roane counties. Most of the city’s residents live in Anderson County, but the west side of the city and some large federal sites are in Roane County.

Anderson County now has 374 COVID-19 cases, with 171 active cases, and Roane County has 189, with 111 active.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County has more than tripled since early July, and the number of active cases has more than quintupled. The number of hospitalizations has more than doubled this month.

The last record of new daily COVID-19 cases in Anderson County was Tuesday, when 27 new cases were reported. Before that, the previous high was 23 new cases on July 8.

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COVID-19 cases triple in county, hospitalizations double

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A graph showing total cases of COVID-19 in Anderson County through Tuesday, July 21, 2020. (Image courtesy Tennessee COVID-19 Case Tracking Coronavirus-19 Outbreak Response Experts (CORE-19) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville)

The number of COVID-19 cases has tripled in Anderson County since early July, and the number of hospitalizations has doubled.

Anderson County had 105 total cases of COVID-19 on July 2, when the growth in cases started to accelerate. On Tuesday, it had more than three times as many cases, 327.

The number of active cases—total cases minus recoveries and deaths—has increased even faster. The number of active cases in Anderson County on July 2 was 32. On Tuesday, the county had about five times as many active cases, 154.

The number of total cases and active cases—now 327 and 154, respectively—have both increased about 50 percent in one week.

Anderson County hospitalizations increased to 21 on Tuesday. That’s up from 10 on July 5, meaning more than half of the county’s hospitalizations have occurred in less than three weeks. Seven of the hospitalizations have been in the past week.

Anderson County has reported a third death due to COVID-19, the first since June 4. Joe Lenhard, a former U.S. Department of Energy executive and a founder of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, died of COVID-19 on Friday at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.

Separately, an Oak Ridge employee who worked at the Y-12 National Security Complex and lived in Maryville died of COVID-19 on Wednesday at Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville.

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Roane County will not require face masks

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Ron Woody (Screenshot from video posted by Woody)

Roane County will not require face masks or face coverings, County Executive Ron Woody said Friday.

In an online video, Woody said most essential businesses are now requiring face coverings. That means a mask requirement by the county may not be necessary anymore, Woody said. Stores that require face coverings now include Kroger, Lowe’s, and Walmart.

“The decisions were made the businesses, which we think was the best decision anyway,” Woody said. It’s better than a government mandate, which no one wants, the county executive said.

“Our businesses should step up and be the responsible party, and they were,” Woody said.

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Oak Ridge not authorized to require masks

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The City of Oak Ridge does not have the authority to require face masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, officials said Wednesday.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Anderson County, which includes Oak Ridge, has increased significantly this month. The county had 178 total cases on Thursday—a 70 percent increase since July 2—and the number of active cases more than doubled in eight days.

As the number of cases has surged in the region, people have set up social media groups where members have reported on mask use at local businesses and offices and called for mandatory masks, including in Oak Ridge and its schools.

On Wednesday, the city said it is prohibited from enacting or enforcing a mask requirement because of a Tennessee attorney general opinion issued in April and an executive order from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in May. (The attorney general’s opinion is Opinion Number 20-07, and the executive order is Executive Order Number 38.)

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Roane County not requiring face masks, not clear if that could change

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As of Monday, Roane County had not invoked its ability to recommend or require face masks or coverings in the county, County Executive Ron Woody said in a video posted online.

On Friday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee granted county mayors in most of the state’s counties the authority to recommend or require face masks.

In a video posted on Facebook on Monday, Woody said there are two issues that have to be resolved before Roane County considers invoking the mandate.

First, Woody said the order, Executive Order 54, hasn’t been officially published, at least not as of Monday afternoon.

Second, the county will wait for guidance from the regional health director, Woody said.

“Generally, a regional health director would make a recommendation to a county saying (there) is a health issue to invoke a mandate or some type of action,” Woody said. “The health department has made no recommendation at this time.”

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COVID-19 count up to 371 as Roane, Scott report first cases

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Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m. March 22.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Tennessee increased to 371 on Saturday, up from 228 on Friday, as Roane County and Scott County reported their first cases.

That’s a 63 percent increase from Friday to Saturday. It followed a 48 percent increase from Thursday to Friday and a 57 percent increase from Wednesday to Thursday.

Anderson County reported its first case of the contagious respiratory illness on Thursday.

The list published by the Tennessee Department of Health at 2 p.m. Central time on Saturday included two cases in Scott County and one case in Roane County. No additional information was immediately available about the three cases.

Cases in Knox County and Campbell County were reported earlier.

There are now COVID-19 cases in 33 of Tennessee’s 95 counties. The largest number of cases is still in Davidson County, which includes Nashville. There are 140 cases there, or about 38 percent of the state’s total. That’s up from 101 cases on Friday.

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