COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations continue rising in Tennessee and Davidson County

Frank Gluck, Nashville Tennessean
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The COVID-19 pandemic remains far from over in Tennessee as the number of confirmed infections rose strongly for yet another week, according to the state's Department of Health.

As of Saturday, the seven-day average of confirmed cases was 2,233 — nearly a 17% increase from the prior week's 1,912 average. Davidson County cases also grew from an average of 237.1, compared to last week's 210.1.

Nurse Molly Bernard cares for a COVID-19 patient in the room with protective gear on at Vanderbilt ICU in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 10, 2022.
Nurse Molly Bernard cares for a COVID-19 patient in the room with protective gear on at Vanderbilt ICU in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Jan. 10, 2022.

Statewide hospitalizations also jumped by more than 30% over the prior week, from 405 to 528, state data show. Though these numbers are still far below the thousands of reported hospitalized patients with COVID-19 reported in January.

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Tennessee's test-positivity rate (the percentage of people getting tested who are positive for the novel coronavirus), rose modestly to 24.5%, up from the prior week's 22.4%, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.

In Davidson County, the test-positivity rate was 26.3%, up from the prior week's 22.4% seven-day average.

State public health agencies have counted nearly 2.1 million cases of COVID-19 in Tennessee since the start of the pandemic. In the state, 26,631 people have died as a result of the novel coronavirus.

About 55% of Tennesseans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national average is 66.9%.

Frank Gluck is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at fgluck@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FrankGluck.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations still rising in Tennessee