NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed additional cases of COVID-19 across the state on Friday, July 3, 2020.
The health department reported 1,822 new cases, bringing the state to 48,712 total cases, a 4% day-to-day increase since Thursday. Of the total cases, 48,344 are confirmed and 368 are probable.
Over the last seven days, Tennessee has reported an average of 1,324 new cases each day. The new case average is based on data reported over the last week, including the two-day totals released on Monday after the state health department decided to not issue data on June 28 due to an unplanned shutdown of the state surveillance system.
TDH also confirmed 13 additional deaths, bringing Tennessee up to 633 total deaths.
Out of the total positive cases, 29,591 have recovered, an increase of 653 recoveries.
The latest number of hospitalizations went up by 50 to 2,825. 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 48,712 cases, 25,517 are male (52%), 22,246 are female (45%), and 949 are pending (2%).
Tennessee has processed 862,121 tests across the state with 813,409 negative cases. The percentage for positive cases increased by .1% to 5.7%. This is now three days in a row the positive percentage has increased. Friday’s update added 24,037 processed tests to the state’s total.
Earlier Friday, Metro Public Health Department officials reported 11,114 cases of COVID-19 in Davidson County.
On Thursday, Mayor John Cooper announced Nashville will move back into a modified version of Phase Two of the city’s road to reopening plan.
Under the new order, bars must remain closed for a minimum of 14 days. Restaurants, gyms and high-touch businesses may open at 50% capacity, retail stores at 75% capacity and gatherings must be limited to 25 people.
Basketball courts, dogs parks, splash pads, skate parks, and recreational sports leagues will remain open in Phase Two.
The downtown Nashville fireworks display for the Fourth of July was canceled by Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation.
Related: Tourists and bar owners react as Nashville reverts to Phase Two
On Monday, Governor Bill Lee signed an Executive Order to extend the State of Emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic to August 29, 2020.
The state’s previous record-high new cases came two days earlier on Wednesday. On the same day, Gov. Lee singled out four counties with the biggest increase in cases over the past week. One county Lee mentioned is Rutherford County, where cases are up nearly 20%. Other counties with the highest increase are Macon, Sevier, and Bradley counties.
The governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are implementing a 14-day quarantine travel advisory for anyone traveling to or returning from states with increasing rates of COVID-19. Tennessee is on the list of states meeting the criteria.
Tennessee Dept. of Health updates format
On June 12, 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.
