COVID-19 infections continue upward trend in Tennessee, signaling a potential summer wave

Frank Gluck, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read
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COVID-19 infections in Tennessee and Davidson County continued to climb last week, as trends suggest another infection wave may be on the horizon, according to state Department of Health data.

But, for now, hospitalizations resulting from the novel coronavirus are increasing at a slower pace, the numbers show.

As of last May 14, the date of the state's most recent public information on the pandemic, the seven-day average of new cases rose to 944. That's a 34% increase over the previous week's average of 697. Just over a month ago the average was 192.

Physician assistant Abbey McMurrary prepares to swap a patient's nose for a Covid test at a COVID-19 testing and Vaccination site on 28th and Charlotte in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 3, 2022.
Physician assistant Abbey McMurrary prepares to swap a patient's nose for a Covid test at a COVID-19 testing and Vaccination site on 28th and Charlotte in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 3, 2022.

For Davidson County, the seven-day average as of May 14 was 169.6 — nearly a 36% increase over the previous week's average of 124.9. The week before that the average was 100.1 cases.

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The statewide average test-positivity rate (the rate of people who get tested and are positive for COVID-19) last week was 10.87%, the health department reported. The seven-day average rate in Davidson County was 17.1% as of Saturday, up from 14.1% the week prior.

Higher test-positivity rates in a given community suggest that COVID-19 is spreading widely, public health officials say. The Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health generally considers rates above 5% as "too high."

COVID-related hospitalizations increased modestly, with 187 such cases reported on May 14, compared to 153 cases the week prior.

State public health agencies have counted more than 2 million cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee since the start of the pandemic. Of those, 26,263 have died as a result of the novel coronavirus.

About 54.7% of Tennesseans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national average is 66.5%.

Frank Gluck is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at fgluck@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FrankGluck.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: COVID-19 infections rising in Tennessee. Is a summer wave coming?