COVID-19 Cases Spiking

Tennessee is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases, with ICU admissions rising to a point not seen since last November. Active cases are rising on a path not seen since the peak of the pandemic in January of this year.

As of August 5, data, Tennessee has had 914,110 COVID cases, with 30,888 active. The state has also recorded 12,827 Coronavirus deaths during the pandemic. Cases have been rapidly rising since the state’s low point of cases in June. While seniors seemed to have been the most vulnerable during the start of the pandemic, middle aged and children are more susceptible now due to variants of the strain.

In DeKalb County, there have been 2,945 COVID cases reported, with 49 cases active and 2,839 recovered. There have been 57 deaths during the pandemic. That falls in line with other counties of similar population, but some surrounding counties are seeing a huge spike in cases. Vaccination rates in DeKalb are only at 33.89 percent, with 29.72 percent fully vaccinated.

Rutherford County has been hard hit, with 45,709 cases reported, and 1,337 currently active. Rutherford has also reported 453 deaths to the virus.

Wilson County has had 20,369 cases with 610 active. There have been 260 deaths attributed to Coronavirus there.

Putnam County reports 12,181 cases, with 235 active. That area has seen 183 deaths to the virus.

The hardest hit in the state is the Memphis area with Shelby County reporting 107,773 cases, with 5,352 currently active. The area has also seen the highest rate of death from the virus, with 1,753 falling in the pandemic.

Nashville is not far behind, with 94,638 cases reported and 2,786 cases active. Davidson County has reported 972 deaths during the pandemic.

Officials say that one reason for the spike is the Delta Variant, which causes more infections and spreads faster than early forms of the COVID-19 virus. It might cause more severe illness than previous strains in unvaccinated people.

Health officials say that misinformation about vaccines have led some to not get vaccinated. Vaccines continue to be highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death, including against the Delta variant. Fully vaccinated people with breakthrough infections from this variant appear to be infectious for a shorter period.

Health officials also say that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, and were developed using science that has been around for decades. They are not experimental. They have gone through all the required stages of clinical trials. Extensive testing and monitoring have shown that these vaccines are safe and effective, and have received and continue to undergo the most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history.

County Confirmed case Active Deaths Recovered

DeKalb 2,945 49 57 2,839

Wilson 20,369 610 260 19,435

Warren 5,735 96 85 5,554

Putnam 12,181 235 183 11,763

White 3,872 62 75 3,735

Cannon 2,019 46 32 1,941

Smith 2,914 73 40 2,801

Davidson 94,638 2,786 972 90,880

Shelby 107,773 5,351 1,753 100,669

Knox 54,323 1,433 663 52,227

Hamilton 48,111 1,634 520 45,957