After zero citations had been handed out for noncompliance with the local mask mandate, the police finally issued their first citation - and no, it wasn't to partygoers flaunting the rules at Fashion House or to downtown crowds on Broadway. The first citation went to a homeless black man. Charges have since been dropped, the police chief has retired earlier than expected, and MNPD issued 16 civil citations yesterday on Broadway for noncompliance with the public health order. While initial verbal warnings will still be issued, the police have said they will step up enforcement of the class C misdemeanor this weekend for those who continue to flaunt the rules. In addition to an increased police presence over the weekend, staff from the Metro Health Department, Beer Board, Fire Marshal's Office and others will assist in patrolling the area.
Metro Nashville
As of today, Nashville reported 22,446 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of 9:30 this morning, an increase of 199 over the last 24 hours. There are currently 3,165 active cases in Nashville, 19,077 individuals who have recovered and 167 active hospitalizations. With 204 deaths (no new deaths in more than 24 hours), the city has a case fatality rate of 0.91%.
In Davidson County, 180,715 tests have been administered with a positive rate of 12.4% (not as high as it has been but still up from 10.7% on July 1 and 9.4% on June 1). Of note, the 7-day average for positive tests is 11.8% as of today - up from 11.4% on Tuesday but down from 12.9% last Friday and 14.3% the Friday before that.
On the trend lines, the transmission rate is in the green. With a goal for transmission to be less than 1.0, the city has seen a rate of 0.99 for the last week. The 14-day case rate is also in the green with a decreasing trend in new cases. Public health and testing capacity remain in the green, as they have throughout. Hospital floor bed capacity remains in the yellow with 15% available this morning at 9:30 am. ICU beds also remain in the yellow with 14% current capacity, up slightly from yesterday. The goal for both hospital and ICU bed capacity is 20%.
On the new trend lines, the New Cases per 100K Residents has moved from red to yellow. The goal of the seven-day rolling average is to be at 10 or below (at which point the State of Tennessee will allow visitors to skilled nursing facilities). Currently, Nashville sits at 24.8 (after being in the red yesterday at 26.3) on this metric. The other new trend line is the 7-Day Positivity Rate (which we've been reporting for weeks as part of our day's data above). The goal is to see a 7-day positivity figure at 10% or less. Currently, Nashville is in the yellow with a rate of 11.8%.
More detailed data is available on the Metro Dashboard. Click here for details.
Masks are required in Nashville, and a number of other surrounding counties have also begun instituting mandatory mask regulations. Additionally, public health officials continue to ask (beg) residents to be vigilant in maintaining social distancing measures, as well as to go out as little as possible, wash hands frequently and stay home if ill. Metro police are authorized to issue civil citations to those who fail to comply with the mask mandate unless the individual has a specific exemption.
Tennessee Stat
State numbers will be updated later today.