NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed additional cases and deaths related to COVID-19 across the state on Thursday, August 6.
The health department reported 2,252 new cases, bringing the state to 116,350 total cases, a 2% day-to-day increase since Wednesday. Of the total cases, 114,801 are confirmed and 1,549 are probable.
Tennessee’s seven-day new cases average increased to 1,926 additional cases per day.
TDH also confirmed 42 additional deaths, bringing Tennessee up to 1,186 total deaths. It’s the state’s highest single-day increase in deaths since 37 deaths on July 23.
Out of the confirmed positive cases, 77,558 have recovered, an increase of 2,008 recoveries.
The latest number of hospitalizations went up by 108 to 5,109. 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 116,350 cases, 58,094 are female (50%), 56,936 are male (49%), and 1,320 are pending (1%).
Tennessee has conducted 1,633,642 tests with 1,517,292 negative results. The percentage for positive cases remains around 7.1%. Thursday’s update added 23,038 tests to the state’s total.
COVID-19 in Nashville
Earlier Thursday, Metro Public Health Department officials reported 22,247 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.
Nashville is still in the modified Phase Two of its reopening plan for the “foreseeable future,” according to Cooper.
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.
A few hours after the announcement, a 61-year-old man was arrested after police said he repeatedly violated the mask order.
Metro Nashville Public Schools announced on Tuesday that some families were having trouble logging into ‘virtual classroom’ on the first day of school. Students who have trouble accessing their virtual classroom will not be penalized, the district said.
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.
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.
