During a weekend when all eyes were on election results, COVID-19 ignored all counts except the number of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths across the country as the United States crossed 10 million total cases and neared 240,000 deaths.
Over the weekend, a number of states broke records for new cases, the United States saw new cases in excess of 100,000 per day, and 43 states saw hospitalizations begin to tick back up. On a positive note, today Pfizer announced its two-dose vaccine showed more than 90% efficacy in early evaluation. The FDA requires a two-month evaluation of safety with Pfizer anticipated to seek emergency authorization later this month after hitting that threshold. Company executives have said they anticipate having manufactured enough doses by the end of the year to vaccinate 15 to 20 million people.
Also today, President-elect Joe Biden announced his COVID-19 task force. Speaking to Americans, he asked the nation come together to wear masks, citing it as one of the most important lines of defense against the virus. Biden stressed mask-wearing isn't a political statement. Instead, he said it is an act of patriotism as Americans rise to the occasion to protect themselves and their neighbors. While it might seem like a small act, President-elect Biden said the impact could be huge for getting the virus under control and getting back to our pre-pandemic lives. "It's the weight of many small acts that bends the arc of history," he stated.
Metro Nashville
As of 9:30 today, the city reported 37,375 confirmed cases, an increase of 341 since yesterday and just over 1,000 since Friday. There are currently 2,818 active cases in Nashville (up 469 since Friday), 34,235 inactive or recovered cases and 270 active hospitalizations. With 322 deaths, the city has a case fatality rate of 0.86%. In Davidson County, 551,824 tests have been administered with a positive rate of 8.3%.
Out of 8 metrics on the trend lines, Nashville has 3 in the green, 3 in the yellow and 2 in the red. With a goal for transmission to be less than 1.0, the city's current transmission rate is 1.00 (down from 1.14 on Monday despite the spike in new cases). The 14-day case trend is in the red with new cases rising. 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 16% availability with ICU beds also remaining in the yellow at 10% capacity. The goal for both hospital and ICU bed capacity is 20%.
The New Cases per 100K Residents has remained in the red for the past two weeks. The goal of the seven-day rolling average is to be at 10 or below. Currently, Nashville sits at 46.3 as of 9:30 am this morning (up from 40.3 on Friday and 38.5 last Monday). 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 8.4% (but that figure is up from 8.0% on Friday and 7.4% last Monday). Overall, numbers continue to trend in the wrong direction.
More detailed data is available on the Metro Dashboard. Click here for details.
Nashville remains in Phase 3 of COVID Reopening. The city also continues its mask mandate, with several nearby counties having reinstated similar mandates after letting them expire earlier. Governor Bill Lee extended the Tennessee State of Emergency tied to COVID-19 through Dec. 29.
Tennessee State