Nashville continues to see 'impressive' downward COVID-19 trends, researchers say

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Nashville is continuing to see "impressive" downward trends in the fight against COVID-19, Vanderbilt researchers announced.

Music City has declined from July highs and the moving average has been halved since that time, Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative reports.

That's just one indicator that adherence to Music City's mitigation efforts is trending in the right direction: a lower 7-day moving average. Right now, Nashville's 7-day moving average is at a recent low at 190.

Researchers say in the past few weeks, there was no new daily spike. Nashville currently has a mask mandate, closure of all bars, 10 p.m. curfew of restaurants and closure of transpotainment vehicles.

Another milestone for the city: It's the first time Nashville has seen three straight weeks of weekly declines. It is also the first time the weekly case number halved.

VU Biome said tests for coronavirus in Nashville are also showing a downward trend.

"Less people with symptoms = less testing needed. Alternative is that fewer people with symptoms are going to get tested," VU Biome tweeted.

"We need to do a better job to try to get more people tested," Metro Health Director Michael Caldwell said Tuesday.

He says Metro has the capacity to test more people, and the attack rate of the virus has gone down.

Nashville has more than 23,000 COVID-19 cases, as of Monday. There's still a long way to go in the path to recovery as the city's posititvity rate still sits at 12.4%-12.4%.

ICU bed capacity is trending down. It is now at 11%, down from 18% a week ago.