NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed additional cases and deaths related to COVID-19 across the state on Saturday, August 8.
The health department reported 1,803 new cases, bringing the state to 120,585 total cases, a 2% day-to-day increase since Friday. Of the total cases, 118,821 are confirmed and 1,764 are probable.
Tennessee’s seven-day new cases average now sits at 1,772 additional cases per day.
TDH also confirmed 9 additional deaths, bringing Tennessee up to 1,215 total deaths.
Out of the confirmed positive cases, 80,340 have recovered, an increase of 983 recoveries.
The latest number of hospitalizations went up by 72 to 5,262. A note on the department’s website states this total is an indication of the number of patients that were ever hospitalized during their illness and not an indication of the number of patients currently hospitalized.
Of the 120,585 cases, 58,796 are male (49%), 60,447 are female (50%), and 1,342 are pending (1%).
Tennessee has conducted 1,683,722 tests with 1,563,137 negative results. The percentage for positive cases remains around 7.2%. Saturday’s update added 23,385 tests to the state’s total.
COVID-19 in Nashville
Earlier Saturday, Metro Public Health Department officials reported 22,714 cases of COVID-19 in Davidson County.
On July 28, Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced the order closing all bars in Nashville and requiring restaurants serving alcohol to shut down by 10 p.m. daily has been extended through at least mid-August.
All “transpotainment” vehicles are banned from the streets of Nashville and Davidson County as of July 31, regardless of whether there is alcohol on-board, according to the Metro Public Health Department.
Metro Police said they will issue citations to anyone who defies Metro Public Health orders by not wearing masks. The news comes after weeks of criticism aimed at Nashville leaders for not ticketing crowds of maskless people partying downtown. On Thursday, Metro police issued 16 civil citations to people on Broadway for violating Nashville’s mask mandate.
On Friday, Cooper announced Public Health Order 10 that prohibits open consumption, possession, and late-night to-go sales of alcoholic beverages in downtown and midtown Nashville.
Nashville is still in the modified Phase Two, but the city could advance to Phase Three of the Roadmap to Reopening again in a few weeks, which would mean bigger crowds near bars and restaurants downtown. Some Metro council members are floating around an idea they believe would boost business while reopening the area safely.
Schools Moving Forward
Last week, Governor Bill Lee announced the State of Tennessee’s recommendations to reopen schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The governor’s plan for re-opening schools is getting criticized by some state leaders.
Lee also announced Executive Order No. 55 would include Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association member schools in an exception to contact sports restrictions. He officially signed the order on July 31.
The TSSAA said although contact practice is now permissible, regulations and requirements for practice and competition adopted by the Board of Control at their July 22 meeting are still in place for all sports and must be followed.
A day after Lee’s announcement, school leaders in Davidson sent out a letter to all schools in the county asking to cancel all sports and extracurricular activities until after Labor Day.
The Williamson County School district is starting the year with one of its campuses closed when it was scheduled to have students learning in-person.
The director of the Tennessee Association of School Nurses said “frustration” was the best word to describe how school nurses felt as students head back to classrooms across the state this week.
Putnam County Schools released an update on Friday regarding the first week of school during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Director of Schools Corby King, one student at Cookeville High School this week tested positive for COVID-19 and was in close contact with other students. Those students have been reportedly contacted and have been placed on a 14-day quarantine.
Also on Friday, Coffee County Schools announced it will move to a hybrid schedule beginning Wednesday, August 12 due to an increase in active COVID-19 cases.
Tennessee’s COVID-19 Response
Dr. Deborah Birx met with Governor Lee in Nashville on July 27. The Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force called for all Tennessee counties to issue mask mandates. Several counties have issued mask requirements around the state already.
A number of retailers and restaurants are also requiring masks while visiting their stores. See a full list of locations here.
In June, the Tennessee Department of Health announced changes to its format for sharing COVID-19 data. The department’s total number of cases and total deaths now include both laboratory-confirmed cases and probable cases as defined in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance case definitions. – Learn more about the changes here.
