NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed additional cases and deaths related to COVID-19 across the state on Thursday, July 30.
The health department reported 2,049 new cases, bringing the state to 102,871 total cases, a 2% day-to-day increase since Wednesday. Of the total cases, 101,728 are confirmed and 1,143 are probable.
Tennessee’s seven-day new cases average decreased slightly for the second day in a row to 2,269 additional cases per day.
TDH also confirmed 13 additional deaths, bringing Tennessee up to 1,033 total deaths.
Out of the confirmed positive cases, 64,234 have recovered, an increase of 2,105 recoveries.
The latest number of hospitalizations went up by 90 to 4,572. A note on the department’s website states this total is an indication of the number of patients that were ever hospitalized during their illness and not an indication of the number of patients currently hospitalized.
Of the 102,871 cases, 50,873 are female (49%), 50,756 are male (49%), and 1,242 are pending (1%).
Tennessee has conducted 1,479,669 tests with 1,376,798 negative results. The percentage for positive cases increased by .1% to 7%. Thursday’s update added 24,549 tests to the state’s total.
COVID-19 in Nashville
Earlier Thursday, Metro Public Health Department officials reported 20,928 cases of COVID-19 in Davidson County.
During Metro’s Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Tuesday, Mayor John Cooper announced the order closing all bars in Nashville and requiring restaurants serving alcohol to shut down by 10 p.m. daily has been extended through at least mid-August.
Schools Moving Forward
Governor Bill Lee announced the State of Tennessee’s recommendations to reopen schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The governor’s plan for re-opening schools is getting criticized by some state leaders.
Lee also announced Executive Order No. 55 would include Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association member schools in an exception to contact sports restrictions.
The TSSAA said although contact practice is now permissible, regulations and requirements for practice and competition adopted by the Board of Control at their July 22 meeting are still in place for all sports and must be followed.
On Wednesday, school leaders in Davidson sent out a letter to all schools in the county asking to cancel all sports and extracurricular activities until after Labor Day.
Tennessee’s COVID-19 Response
Dr. Deborah Birx met with Governor Lee in Nashville Monday morning. The Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force called for all Tennessee counties to issue mask mandates. Several counties have issued mask requirements around the state already.
A number of retailers and restaurants are also requiring masks while visiting their stores. See a full list of locations here.
Last month, the Tennessee Department of Health announced changes to its format for sharing COVID-19 data. The department’s total number of cases and total deaths now include both laboratory-confirmed cases and probable cases as defined in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance case definitions. – Learn more about the changes here.
