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Find the biggest updates about the coronavirus pandemic in our live blog, below.
Tennessee reached its highest number of active coronavirus cases over the weekend — with more than 40,000 Tennesseans contagious on Sunday. Rural areas have begun to catch up to the hotspots, but the state’s largest metro areas have been facing major outbreaks for months now.
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At least four school districts in Middle Tennessee that recently reopened are now struggling with new cases of coronavirus. This has caused some of their schools to close until further notice. But Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey says that might be an overreaction.
Continue ReadingMiddle Tennessee school districts are already readjusting their plans for the semester because of positive coronavirus contacts.
In Maury County, Whitthorne Middle School closed Monday and plans to begin a virtual schedule until further notice. Spring Hill High School also closed Monday, but Maury County Schools has not yet announced when students will come in person.
The district says there aren’t enough teachers or substitutes available due to potential exposure to the virus — there are 44 teachers and staff are self-quarantining.
Christiana Middle School in Rutherford County has had two employees test positive and 10 others isolating as a precaution, according to Rutherford County Schools spokesman James Evans. The school has decided to go fully remote until August 24. In-person classes were supposed to start Thursday.
“We know this will be a hardship for some parents, but we want to ensure we are maintaining a safe learning environment for our students and employees,” Evans said in a message to parents.
Coffee County initially had to close two of its schools last week. Now, the district is preparing to shift to a hybrid schedule starting Wednesday.
In Putnam County, more than 80 students, plus seven school staffers, are quarantining after having close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. The district returned to in-person classes a week ago.
The case is a student at Cookeville High School, according to news reports, and the school remains open.
“As educators, we believe that in-person learning is best; however, we are keenly aware that there will continue to be positive cases in our schools and in our community,” superintendent Corby King said in a news release. “We will continue to strive to remain in-person as much as is prudent and feasible while protecting the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff.”
Putnam County says it will begin reporting data on cases and contacts in its schools. The governor announced last week he’s developing a plan to share that information from schools statewide.
The Metro Nashville Police Department ramped up public health enforcement on Lower Broadway this weekend after fielding widespread criticism for its soft approach in recent weeks.
On Friday and Saturday, police issued 38 citations and made four arrests for mask violations. Until last week, the department hadn’t cited or arrested a single person. That’s even though officers had given thousands of verbal warnings to unmasked honky tonk goers.
Mayor John Cooper and Interim Police Chief John Drake promised this past weekend would be different.
MNPD deployed 30 officers to the tourism district Friday and Saturday to monitor the crowds and stop any “transpotainment” vehicles breaking public health orders.
The city also banned the sale and consumption of alcohol on the street throughout downtown and midtown, except at restaurants. Curbside delivery, however, is still allowed, for those who want to drink at home.
Metro health officials will once again be sharing information on COVID-19 cases with first responders, but there will be tighter restrictions.
Nashville emergency dispatchers will tell first responders the names of people with COVID-19 only if the person needs to be transported. Otherwise, they’ll just confirm there’s a positive case in the household.
The data will be deleted after 30 days assuming there isn’t a reinfection.
Under an old policy, the Board of Health was sharing people’s data if they had the virus as a safeguard for first responders. But that program was suspended in late spring, after some Metro officials and advocacy groups worried it would stop marginalized communities from getting tested or calling for help if they need it.
Tennessee had a similar policy but decided it wasn’t necessary to share the data once first responders got the protective equipment they needed.
The new policy has been approved by the Metro Board of Health for six weeks.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper has issued a new public health order that will prohibit downtown and Midtown restaurants and bars from selling alcohol to patrons who don’t intend on drinking inside their establishment or at home. It will take effect Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
In recent weeks, the city has been pressured to be more aggressive in enforcing the city’s mask mandate. Today’s announcement follows criticism that the first person to be arrested for violating the order was a Black man who is experiencing homelessness and not partygoers.
Order 10 prohibits:
Metro Nashville is bringing COVID-19 clinical research vaccine trials to local residents. The city is partnering with medical institutions including Vanderbilt, Clinical Research Associates and Meharry Medical College.
The effort is part of Operation Warp Speed, a federal initiative to “deliver 300 million doses of a safe, effective vaccine for COVID-19 by January 2021.”
Metro Public Health Director Dr. Michael Caldwell says that while the country needs a vaccine as soon as possible, it needs to be developed in an ethical way.
“Anyone who volunteers needs to be able to look carefully at the risk and benefits of their participation,” said Caldwell during a Thursday morning press briefing. “They will be fully informed of what those risks are.”
Caldwell says the studies that are being conducted in Nashville will be with vaccines that have already been tested on hundreds of other people. He referred to them as “Phase 3 studies.”
“The reason that Nashville has been chosen is because of our high number of cases,” says Caldwell. “When you look to test a vaccine and to see if it works, you want to be able to test it in a place where there’s a lot of disease.”
But while the trials are seen as a benefit by local health professionals, there is concern about the safety of vaccine trials within communities of color, who have been historically subjected to racist medial practices.
“I’m particularly concerned about people from minority communities who have a long history of mistrusting, distrusting, and not necessarily accepting what medical research has to provide,” says Dr. James Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College.
Hildreth says he’s excited about the opportunity for communities of color to participate in the trials, but that there will be a need for “ambassadors who have been through the vaccine process” to help health officials convince these residents to participate.
Tennessee just had its deadliest day of the pandemic so far, with 42 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.
The previous record was 37 deaths on July 23. In the two weeks since then, the 14-day average has continued to climb and now stands at 19 per day.
Newly reported cases and hospitalizations were also higher than average today.
One percent of all coronavirus cases in Tennessee ends in death, but it’s much more deadly if the case is severe enough to require hospitalization. Nearly 1 in 4 of those hospitalized with the virus have died.
The number of Nashville residents seeking COVID-19 testing has dropped by nearly half in the last month. And statewide, the testing numbers have plateaued. Health officials say there are still plenty of tests to be had, just fewer people wanting them.
Continue ReadingCitations are coming for people in Nashville who don’t follow the city’s mask mandate, says the city’s top police officials. They met with Metro Council members Wednesday afternoon and committed to stricter enforcement.
Police have taken heat from city leaders and citizens for standing by as people pack the city’s tourist district without face coverings. The Metro Nashville Police Department says it plans to start issuing citations for non-compliance and promises a heavier presence in tourism areas starting this weekend.
Nashville mandated masks at the end of June but didn’t plan to begin active enforcement for the first week. Metro Police have issued 20,000 verbal warnings for not wearing masks, but they haven’t issued a single citation. They have the authority to issue fines for $50.
The department has had school resource officers stationed downtown seven days a week. Now they plan to have three teams of eight officers patrolling on foot with a more aggressive approach.
“We’ll make an arrest if we have to,” Capt. David Leavitt says of “uncooperative” people. “This Friday and Saturday will be very clear to anyone who is in the downtown area that the police are out, the police are enforcing.”
The walking patrols will run from 3:30 p.m. to midnight. Additional officers will be on ATVs so that they can stop and cite “transpotainment” vehicles. Staff from the health department, Transportation Licensing Commission, Beer Board and the Fire Marshal’s Office will also be on hand, with the sheriff’s mobile booking vehicle stationed at Riverfront Park on both nights.
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