NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed additional cases and deaths related to COVID-19 across the state on Wednesday, October 21.

The health department reported 2,292 new cases, bringing the state to 235,861 total cases, a 1% day-to-day increase since Tuesday. Of the total cases, 223,867 are confirmed and 11,994 are probable.

Tennessee’s seven-day new cases average increased to 2,189 additional cases per day.

Of the 235,861 cases, 121,578 are female (51%), 112,371 are male (48%), and 1,912 are pending (1%).

TDH also confirmed 18 additional deaths, bringing Tennessee up to 2,970 total deaths.

Out of the confirmed positive cases, 210,243 are listed as inactive/recovered, an increase of 2,061 in the last 24 hours.

The number of total hospitalizations now sits at 9,734. There are 1,246 people currently hospitalized.

Tennessee has processed 3,404,261 tests with 3,168,400 negative results. The percentage of positive cases remains around 6.9%. Wednesday’s update added 19,210 tests to the state’s total.

The Tennessee Department of Health announced the state’s infrastructure plan for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines once they become available.

TDH developed a preliminary structure for the allocation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines:

• Five percent of Tennessee’s allocation of COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed equitably among all 95 counties
• Ten percent of Tennessee’s allocation of COVID-19 vaccines will be reserved by the state for use in targeted areas with high vulnerability to illness and death from the virus
• 85 percent of Tennessee’s allocation of COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed among all 95 counties based on their populations

Governor Bill Lee’s Unified Command Group announced plans to open drive-through COVID-19 testing sites in three counties Saturday, October 24 to address rising case rates in the state’s rural areas. All three are free to those who want to receive a test.

On Tuesday, TDH announced the launch of a new website for statewide COVID-19 data, additional health information, and more. The site offers dashboards and daily reports with state and county-level information including case counts, hospitalizations, and tests conducted.

The White House quietly told Tennessee last week that “a statewide mask mandate must be implemented” to curb its growing spread of COVID-19, strong instructions that the White House and governor did not discuss publicly before the report emerged in a records request.