Thanksgiving is supposed to be a little smaller in Davidson County as Mayor Cooper announced limiting groups to 8 for indoor gatherings. However, there was some wiggle room for larger events where there was space to separate people into small groups of 8. Realistically, enforcement of home gatherings is a tough ask, but the hope is that people will abide by the new "Rule of 8" because it is the safest thing to do. The new restriction goes into place on Monday, Nov. 23. The new rule comes as Nashville once again sees four of its eight benchmark measures in the red, including ICU bed availability.

While the latest state numbers won't be available until later today, Tennessee surpassed 4,000 deaths yesterday and saw another increase in hospitalizations with nearly 2,000 Tennesseans being treated as inpatients across the state.

Metro Nashville

As of 9:30 today, the city reported 42,004 confirmed cases, an increase of 451 cases since yesterday. There are currently 3,799 active cases in Nashville, 37,855 inactive or recovered cases and 362 active hospitalizations. With 350 deaths, the city has a case fatality rate of 0.83%. In Davidson County, 606,202 tests have been administered with an overall positive rate of 8.5% (and a 7-day testing percent positive of 9.8%).

Out of 8 metrics on the trend lines, Nashville has 3 in the green, 1 in the yellow and 4 in the red - transmission rate, 14-day new case trend, ICU bed capacity and new cases per 100,000 residents. With a goal for transmission to be less than 1.0, the city's current transmission rate is 1.25 (up from 1.17 on Tuesday). 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 13% availability (down from 16% on Tuesday and 18% Monday), and ICU beds return to the red with current availability at 9% capacity (down from 12% on Tuesday and 14% Monday). The goal for both hospital and ICU bed capacity is 20%.

The New Cases per 100K Residents has remained in the red for the last few weeks. The goal of the seven-day rolling average is to be at 10 or below. Currently, Nashville sits at 57.9 as of 9:30 am this morning (down from 64.9 on Tuesday). The goal for the 7-Day Positivity Rate is to see a figure at 10% or less. Currently, Nashville barely remains in the green with a rate of 9.8% (up from 8.9% on Tuesday).

More detailed data is available on the Metro Dashboard. Click here for details.

Nashville remains in Phase 3 of COVID Reopening. The new "Rule of 8," which limits gatherings to no more than 8 people (down from 25) goes into effect Monday. 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

State numbers will be updated later today.