Although COVID-19 continues to ravage the nation ... and the world, there are some hopeful signs. Vaccine distribution continues with just under 23,000 in Davidson County and more than 486,000 in the state having received at least a first dose. The federal government is taking a more active role in making sure doses and syringe production ramps up, that there is a more unified distribution plan and an emphasis on getting more professionals trained to administer vaccines. The Biden Administration has called for 100 million vaccines in the first 100 days and more recently signaled a hope that 1.5 million shots would be administered daily across the country.
Active cases, hospitalizations and new cases locally and statewide have moderated and seem to be on a downward trajectory. Fingers crossed there truly is light at the end of the tunnel (and it isn't a train!).
Metro Nashville
As of 9:30 today, the city reported 83,068 confirmed cases, an increase of 212 in 24 hours. There are currently 5,122 active cases in Nashville (down nearly 1,750 over the last two weeks), 77,387 inactive or recovered cases and 382 active hospitalizations. With 559 deaths, the city has a case fatality rate of 0.67%. In Davidson County, the number of tests given is 904,444 with an overall positivity rate of 10.6% and a seven-day positivity rate of 13.1%
Out of 8 metrics on the trend lines, Nashville has 3 in the green, 3 in the yellow and 2 in the red (ICU bed capacity & new cases per 100,000). With a goal for transmission to be less than 1.00, the city's current transmission rate is in the green at 0.85. The 14-day case trend is in the yellow with new cases categorized as flat. 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 15% availability, while ICU beds are still in the red at 8% capacity. The goal for both hospital and ICU bed capacity is 20%.
The New Cases per 100K Residents has remained in the red for weeks. The goal of the seven-day rolling average is to be less than 10. Currently, Nashville sits at 66.6 as of 9:30 am this morning, but the figure is trending in the right direction after surpassing 96 earlier this month. The goal for the 7-Day Positivity Rate is to see a figure at 10% or less. Currently, Nashville is in the yellow with a rate of 13.1%
More detailed data is available on the Metro Dashboard. Click here for details.
Nashville remains in a modified Phase 3 of COVID Reopening, including the Rule of 8 for indoor gatherings without a pre-approved event plan, 50% capacity for restaurants and 10 pm last call for food & beverages. The city also continues its mask mandate. Governor Bill Lee extended the Tennessee State of Emergency tied to COVID-19 through February 27.
Vaccinations are in the 1a1/1a2/75+ phase, which means high exposure healthcare workers, long term care residents and staff, first responders, those ages 75 and older, outpatient healthcare workers and mortuary workers should be, or will soon be, eligible for vaccines. With attention turned toward vaccination, assessment sites are closed currently on weekends.
Tennessee State
Unfortunately, when the state numbers came out this afternoon, there were 192 deaths, breaking a one-day record for COVID-19 fatalities. Although other numbers have moderated, the death toll is a sobering remdinder that this pandemic is far from over.
As of this afternoon, the Tennessee Department of Health reported 712,406 cases of COVID-19 across the state (up 1,979 from the day before) with 662,533 cases defined as recovered or inactive. Currently, there are 2,026 hospitalizations (a net decrease of 41 over the previous day and nearly 1,000 less than two weeks ago), and 9,162 deaths from the virus statewide (an increase of 192 in 24 hours, which sets a new high for one-day death totals) for a death rate of 1.29. The state has conducted more than 6.2 million tests (an increase of 8,529 in 24 hours) with an 10.75% positivity rate for the day (down from 11.98% the day before). Hospital capacities stand at 15% of floor beds (1,715 beds) and 11% of ICU beds (225 beds) available statewide. After peaking on Jan. 6, hospitalizations are down nearly 40% over the last two weeks.
As of Jan. 25, 505,267 vaccines had been administered across the state, and increase of 140,970 vaccines in a week with 18,670 vaccines reported for 1/25/21. Currently, at least 5.9% of Tennesseans have received at least 1 dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. For more detailed information on vaccination distribution, visit the TDH vaccine dashboard at www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov/covid-19-vaccine-information.html.