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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.

[Read more…]

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.

[Read more…]

For members: ORNL contract extension valued at up to $8 billion

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The five-year non-competitive contract extension at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has an estimated value of up to $8 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The DOE Office of Science has explained why it did not have a full, open competition for the extension.

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ORNL researcher helps discover new species of cave snail

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Researchers discovered the Tennessee cavesnail, Antrorbis tennesseensis, in caves near Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The snail is less than two millimeters long. (Photo credit: ORNL/Nathaniel Shoobs and Matthew Niemiller)

A researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory helped discover a small cave snail.

The new snail species has been named the Tennessee cavesnail, or Antrorbis tennesseensis. Its name honors the state where it was found and the fact that several researchers involved in its discovery are affiliated with the University of Tennessee. A paper describing and naming the species was published in December.

The snail, which is less than two millimeters long, was found in two caves in Roane County a few miles south of the Oak Ridge Reservation. The reservation includes ORNL and parts of the city of Oak Ridge.

The snail is found on or under rocks far inside the caves, usually in streams that aren’t too muddy or silty, ORNL said. Researchers recommended that the species be listed as endangered.

The ORNL researcher is Evin Carter. He is a research associate and wildlife ecologist at ORNL, which is a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory. With only a handful of surveys completed so far, Carter has plans to survey the 40 or so other caves on the Oak Ridge Reservation, ORNL said.

[Read more…]

UT classes moving online due to coronavirus

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Classes at the University of Tennessee are being temporarily suspended and moved online in response to COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.

UT Chattanooga will suspend in-person classes until March 30, while UT Knoxville and UT Martin will suspend in-person classes until April 3. Beginning March 23, UT Health Science Center will offer all face-to-face lecture classes remotely until further notice. Clinical rotations in hospitals will continue as usual, a press release said.

University of Tennessee Interim President Randy Boyd—in consultation with chancellors at UT Knoxville, UT Chattanooga, UT Martin, and the UT Health Science Center—announced the temporary suspension of all in-person classes in a press release on Wednesday. It’s being called a proactive measure.

[Read more…]

Voting rights to be discussed Tuesday

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Katie A. Cahill
Katie A. Cahill

Voting rights will be discussed in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The speaker will be Katie A. Cahill, associate director of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and director of the Leadership and Governance Program. Cahill has a courtesy post as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Her Tuesday talk will be to the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. Her talk is titled “Voting Rights, Laws and Trends: A Look Ahead to 2020,” a press release said.

[Read more…]

UT creative writing director to speak at Lunch 4 Literacy in Oak Ridge

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A creative writing director at the University of Tennessee will speak at Lunch 4 Literacy in Oak Ridge in March.

The popular annual event is co-sponsored by the Oak Ridge Breakfast Rotary Club and the Altrusa International Club of Oak Ridge. It will be held at Oak Ridge High School at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 24.

This year, the award-winning speaker is Margaret Lazarus Dean, an associate professor and director of creative writing in the Department of English at the University of Tennessee. [Read more…]

UT professor with joint appointment at ORNL receives $1.7 million award

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David Mandrus
David Mandrus

A materials science professor in the University of Tennessee’s Tickle College of Engineering has received a five-year $1.7 million award from a leading scientific foundation for research in the emerging field of quantum materials.

David Mandrus, the Jerry and Kay Henry Endowed Professor, has a joint appointment at UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Mandrus’s work has been cited thousands of times, and he has earned several notable accolades for his part in advancing materials science, a press release said. In recognition of his work, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has named him an Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems  (EPiQS) Materials Synthesis Investigator.

“I’m honored to have again been selected by the Moore Foundation as someone whose work they have chosen to recognize,” Mandrus said. “Their support will help me further explore ideas and concepts related to quantum materials and the opportunities they make possible.”

[Read more…]

Volkswagen, UT, ORNL announce collaboration, innovation hub

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Volkswagen Group America Innovation North University Tennessee Research Park
Volkswagen Group of America will lease space in the Innovation North building on the UT Research Park campus. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)

Volkswagen Group of America, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Tennessee on Friday announced a collaboration to create Volkswagen’s first innovation hub in North America at the UT Research Park at Cherokee Farm.

“Working with the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a great opportunity to continue growing Volkswagen’s engineering footprint in the North American region,” said Wolfgang Demmelbauer-Ebner, executive vice president and chief engineering officer for Volkswagen’s North American region. “This hub, along with other research institutions here, is an integral part of Volkswagen’s global research and development efforts and can also directly contribute to vehicles in North America.”

The collaboration involves research opportunities for doctoral students and space in the Innovation North building at the UT Research Park at Cherokee Farm in Knoxville, a press release said. Initial work will focus on developing lighter vehicle components made from composite materials and the electrification of vehicles.

[Read more…]

Cannabis in Tennessee to be discussed Tuesday

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Cannabis in Tennessee will be discussed at “Lunch with the League” in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The speaker will be Patricia K. Freeland, professor and associate head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee, a press release said.

The meeting will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, which is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

A long-time educator, Freeland has had an extensive and interesting career in all aspects of public administration and public policy, the press release said. She has written numerous books and articles on public administration, food policy, technology policy (drones), religion, and politics.

[Read more…]

Deputy energy secretary visits nuclear, national security sites

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Dan Brouillette East Tennessee Aug 2019
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette traveled to Tennessee this week to tour the BWXT—Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and meet with University of Tennessee President, Randy Boyd. (Photo by Department of Energy)

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette traveled to Tennessee this week to tour the BWXT-Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. Facility and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and meet with University of Tennessee President Randy Boyd.

Brouillette was joined by Congressman Phil Roe and BWXT-Nuclear Fuel Services leadership on his tour of the downblending process facility and the fuel manufacturing facility at NFS, a U.S. Department of Energy press release said.

“They had a productive discussion about the innovative technologies pioneered by BWXT and NFS that fuel our nation’s naval reactors and defense industry,” the press release said. “The deputy secretary emphasized the importance of the critical work being done at this facility.”

[Read more…]

Forensic anthropologist Bill Bass, founder of ‘Body Farm,’ to speak at Children’s Museum

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Bill Bass

The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge will host a benefit presentation this fall by William “Bill” Bass, author, renowned forensic anthropologist, and founder of the “Body Farm,” the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility at the University of Tennessee.

Bass will speak at 7 p.m. Saturday, September 28, at the Museum, discussing the science behind the novel “Bones of Betrayal,” set in Oak Ridge, and answering questions from the audience. Frank Murphy, host of the afternoon show on Classic Hits 93.1 WNOX, will serve as emcee at the event.

The novel by Jefferson Bass, a collaboration between Bass and co-author Jon Jefferson, is a murder mystery set in Oak Ridge featuring a forensic anthropologist searching for clues to the death of a prominent scientist, a press release said. [Read more…]

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