Nashville moves to a less restrictive phase of reopening beginning tomorrow. Bars will be allowed to add a little more capacity, transportainment operations can restart, event/wedding/funeral venues can reopen at one-third capacity but capped at 125 people, and restaurants can resume bar and counter service.
The Tennessee Department of Health sent out a preemptive note to explain the spike in cases today and predicting a higher caseload over the coming few days due to a lab issue. The following note was sent to media:
"Today's COVID-19 case count for Tennessee will include an increase in 1,818 new total cases. Of this number, there are 965 positive cases associated with the South Central Correctional Facility in Wayne County. This report of cases also contributes to the high positivity rate for the day. Additional questions about COVID-19 cases associated with this facility should be directed to the Tennessee Department of Correction.
In addition, there has been a disruption in laboratory reporting since Friday that will result in a higher caseload over the next few days."
Metro Nashville
As of 9:30 today, the city reported 25,975 confirmed cases, an increase of 30 over the last 24 hours and of 260 since Friday's report. These have been among the lowest numbers in recent memory. There are currently 1,400 active cases in Nashville (down 441 since Friday), 24,339 individuals who have recovered and 129 active hospitalizations (the same as Friday). With 237 deaths (up 2 from Friday), the city has a case fatality rate of 0.91%.
In Davidson County, 216,466 tests have been administered with a positive rate of 12% (down from 12.4% at the beginning of August). Of note, the 7-day average for positive tests is 8.6% as of today (down from 9.1% on Friday and 10.8% the Friday before that).
On the trend lines, Nashville continues to have 5 out of 8 in the green with the remaining three in the yellow. With a goal for transmission to be less than 1.0, the city has a current transmission rate of 0.81, keeping the trend line in the green. 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.
As of 9:30 am this morning, hospital floor bed capacity remained in the yellow with 17% availability (up from 11% availability on Friday). ICU beds also remained in the yellow with 13% capacity (down from 17% on Friday). The goal for both hospital and ICU bed capacity is 20%.
The New Cases per 100K Residents remains in the yellow this week. The goal of the seven-day rolling average is to be at 10 or below. Currently, Nashville sits at 17.8 on this metric (slightly up from 17.5 this past Friday but significantly down from the 22.6 the Friday before). The goal for the 7-Day Positivity Rate is to see a figure at 10% or less. Currently, Nashville remains in the green with a rate of 8.6% as of 9:30 this morning.
More detailed data is available on the Metro Dashboard. Click here for details.
Nashville moves to a less restrictive modified Phase 2 of the reopening plan on Sept. 1. Masks are required in Nashville, and a number of other surrounding counties also have mandatory mask regulations, although some of those are beginning to expire (looking at you Williamson County). 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 State
The state reports 154,933 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 1,818 cases since yesterday (and up 4,118 since Friday's numbers). There have been 6,878 hospitalized (an increase of 38 in 24 hours), 1,754 deaths (up 7 since yesterday) and 116,864 Tennesseans have recovered from the virus (up 2,095 since yesterday). The state has conducted nearly 2.2 million tests (up 11,952 in 24 hours). Tennessee's COVID-19 death rate stands at 1.13%.