While much of the country is seeing a decline in COVID-19 cases, the State of Tennessee is continuing to see a large spike in infections, with all of Middle Tennessee reporting double, and in some cases triple, the amount of previous spikes during the pandemic.
With most cases now attributed to the Omicron variant, officials say that symptoms are less severe, but the virus can be and still is deadly.
In DeKalb County, January 2022, has seen the highest amount of infections since the start of the pandemic, doubling case spikes from December 2020, and September 2021. DeKalb now has 712 active cases and has recorded 91 deaths. There are currently 136 people hospitalized from the virus. Overall, DeKalb has had 5,363 total cases as of January 22, 2022, data, with 4,651 reported recovered.
Cases are even worse in surrounding counties with counts again double or triple previous peaks.
In Warren County, there have been 10,915 total cases with 9,339 reported recovered. There are 1,576 active cases, with 154 reported deaths and 199 currently hospitalized.
The count in White County has also exploded with 860 active cases. The have seen 7,022 total cases with 6,162 recovered. There have been 118 deaths attributed to Coronavirus, with 253 currently hospitalized.
Putnam County continues its upward spike with 2,419 active cases. They have had 21,213 total cases with 18,794 recovered. They have also seen 271 deaths and have 593 hospitalized.
Smith is seeing numbers similar to DeKalb, with 5,224 total cases and 4,680 recovered. They have 68 deaths to the virus and have 130 hospitalized.
Small Cannon County is also seeing high numbers compared to its population. They have 3,506 total cases with 3,105 recovered. They currently have 401 active cases, with 52 deaths and 97 hospitalized.
The hardest hit in the DeKalb County area are Wilson, Rutherford, and Davidson Counties. In Wilson, they have 4,622 active cases with 434 deaths and 856 currently hospitalized. They have had 37,152 total cases with 32,530 recovered.
In Rutherford County there have been 85,516 total cases and 74,541 recovered. There are 10,975 active cases in the county with 792 deaths and 1,567 hospitalized.
The hardest hit by far is Davidson County (Nashville) with 172,608 total cases and 153,907 recovered. They have 18,701 active cases with 1,452 deaths reported and 3,633 currently hospitalized.
U.S. residents can now order free at-home coronavirus tests from the federal government by phone by calling 800-232-0233. Callers can request four at-home tests per household. Residents can also use the internet by going to Covidtests.gov where people can enter their mailing address and order four rapid, at-home tests.
Daily COVID-19 data reports have now shifted to weekly reports. Data for the previous week will be posted each Wednesday. Check tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov.html for data updates on Wednesdays.
Officials say the best protection against COVID-19 and its variants is to be vaccinated, and if you have already been vaccinated to get the booster shot. As always, health officials urge the use of masks when in public places, and the practice of using hand sanitizer when possible.
Current vaccines are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths due to infection with the Omicron variant. However, breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated are likely to occur. With other variants, like Delta, vaccines have remained effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. The recent emergence of Omicron further emphasizes the importance of vaccination and boosters.
