NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed additional cases and deaths related to COVID-19 across the state on Wednesday, August 5.
The health department reported 1,657 new cases, bringing the state to 114,098 total cases, a 1% day-to-day increase since Tuesday. Of the total cases, 112,657 are confirmed and 1,441 are probable.
Tennessee’s seven-day new cases average dropped once again. The state is averaging 1,897 additional cases per day.
TDH also confirmed 27 additional deaths, bringing Tennessee up to 1,144 total deaths.
Out of the confirmed positive cases, 75,550 have recovered, an increase of 2,291 recoveries.
The latest number of hospitalizations went up by 101 to 5,001. 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 114,098 cases, 56,896 are female (50%), 55,891 are male (49%), and 1,311 are pending (1%).
Tennessee has conducted 1,610,604 tests with 1,496,506 negative results. The percentage for positive cases remains around 7.1%. Wednesday’s update added 19,294 tests to the state’s total.
COVID-19 in Nashville
Earlier Wednesday, Metro Public Health Department officials reported 21,997 cases of COVID-19 in Davidson County.
Nashville is still in the modified Phase Two of its reopening plan for the “foreseeable future,” according to Mayor John Cooper.
On July 28, 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.
East Nashville House Party Investigation
Metro Health is investigating a house party held over the weekend at an East Nashville home. Videos circulated on social media showing the party on Fern Avenue Saturday night, billed as “Fashion House,” where hundreds of people appeared crammed together, with no masks in sight.
“Every room I went into in that home was just people front to back just partying, I saw maybe a handful of people with masks on,” a party guest told News 2.
The District Attorney’s Office is now involved, and the White House has released a statement amid the ongoing investigation.
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.
According to a report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics on July 23, Tennessee was one of nine states where pediatric cases of COVID-19 exceed 10,000.
“Tennessee leads the U.S. right now in the percentage of our COVID cases that are under the age of 18,” said Dr. Isaac Thomsen, Assistant Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Monroe Carell, Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
News 2 digs deeper into how schools are moving forward safely for the new academic year. See how other districts around Middle Tennessee are handling everything from classroom concerns to the future of sports in our special series. Click here to see more.
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.
