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Find the biggest updates about the coronavirus pandemic in our live blog, below.
Nashville students won’t be returning to school buildings after Martin Luther King Day next week.
The district began the spring semester with students in all grades attending classes online. It says it still doesn’t know when it’ll begin phasing back in-person instructions, but that it won’t happen until the city has a decrease in positive COVID-19 cases.
Students who need tech support can continue visiting select high schools for virtual learning assistance. Families with students in grades K-5 are encouraged to contact the Nashville YMCA for child care options.
Starting next week, Nashville will change the hours of the COVID-19 community testing centers to 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. during the winter months.
Although the Office of Emergency Management installed heaters at the testing sites, the drive-thru facilities are completely outdoors and staff can’t wear warm layers while wearing protective equipment. On days when the wind chill is below 35 degrees only Nissan Stadium will open, while testing at Meharry Medical College and the former Kmart on Murfreesboro Pike will close.
“I would welcome anyone to take a minute to realize for 40 weeks Meharry has been out there in the heat [and] also in the cold weather,” Nashville Fire Department Chief William Swann says.
Metro will do hourly weather analysis to ensure staffers are safe. If the temperature drops unexpectedly, testing centers could close.
On days testing is up and running as planned, residents can continue to get tested for free at all three testing sites.
All of the city’s COVID-19 testing centers will be closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr Day.
Nashville has launched a “standby list” to make sure no COVID-19 vaccine goes to waste. It’s open to anyone who can make it to the Five Points area of East Nashville in 30 minutes.
The state’s health commissioner has called these rapid response lists a “best practice” after the city of Jackson, Tenn., started a similar program to deal with leftover vaccine at the end of the day. As they widen the vaccine distribution to seniors, health departments around the country are struggling to make sure they thaw the right amount to use every dose, since they can’t be saved for the next day.
At most, Nashville says it will have four doses a day, given the number of doses per vial. The Metro Public Health Department is requiring people to sign up every day to make sure people are available. They’re asked to email [email protected] and include a phone number, with instructions to answer any call from an unknown number around 2:30.
It’s at that time public health nurses will determine whether there will be extra doses and randomly draw names to summon for their shot. Recipients do not have to qualify by age or occupation, and they will be notified how to get their second dose a few weeks later.
Tuesday will be the first day of operation for the standby list, but it won’t be live every day since the vaccination schedule is constantly in flux.
Statewide, most counties are vaccinating people 75 and older, but some have even moved on to vaccinating the 1b group which includes teachers. Tennessee has created a centralized website for checking vaccine availability and distribution phase, but it’s not as up-to-date as information coming directly from local health departments primarily on social media.
Tennessee Congressman Chuck Fleischmann has tested positive for COVID-19.
The Chattanooga-area Republican received his result Sunday, noting he had contact with his infected roommate in Washington, D.C., a Florida representative.
He’d already been isolating since learning that his roommate tested positive on Wednesday. That’s the same day rioters stormed the capitol, causing a lockdown that doctors say may have exposed many lawmakers to the virus.
Today, I learned that I have tested positive for COVID-19. I have been in quarantine since Wednesday night. I will continue to work for my constituents while self-isolating. I currently feel okay and remain in contact with the Attending Physician.https://t.co/BsGj9RS272 pic.twitter.com/zconzlLkfi
— Chuck Fleischmann (@RepChuck) January 10, 2021
Fleischmann says he is feeling OK, planning to work remotely, and urging mask wearing.
“I again, want to urge all Americans to continue to wear masks, practice proper hygiene, and follow CDC guidance as we work to combat COVID-19,” he wrote in a statement.
As Tennessee widens the eligibility for who can get a COVID-19 vaccine, many health officials statewide are mostly taking people’s word that they qualify.
Almost every county opened vaccination to people 75 and up this week. So Frank Bargatze of Murfreesboro got an appointment for his father and went ahead and put his own name in, though he’s 63.
“He’s 88,” Bargatze says, pointing to his father in the passenger seat after they received their vaccination. “I jumped on his bandwagon. I’m going to blame it on him.”
Bargatze says he does work a few days a week with people in recovery from addiction, so in a way, he might qualify as a health care worker.
Overwhelmed health departments aren’t doing much vetting, says Dr. Lorraine MacDonald, Rutherford County’s medical examiner. She’s been working at the county’s vaccination site this week.
“That’s a difficult one,” MacDonald says of people near the age cutoff joining family members in getting the vaccine. “It’s pretty much the honor system.”
More: Nashville Seniors To Start Getting COVID Vaccines This Weekend
People getting vaccinated in Williamson and Rutherford counties this week say they did not have to show ID or proof of qualifying employment. Health departments are generally erring on the side of giving the shot. The state has told them people do not have to be a resident or be in the country legally to get the vaccine.
MacDonald says if people seeking the vaccine make it through the signup process online and show up for their appointment, health officials are not going to ask any more questions — as long as they’re on the list from the online signup.
Still, she acknowledges that some people under 75 need the vaccine more than those over that line.
Gayle Boyd of Murfreesboro is 74 and in remission from lung cancer. She says she was so eager to get the vaccine, she joined her slightly older husband.
“Nobody’s really challenged me on it,” she says, noting that she made sure to tell them her risk factors. “Everybody’s been exceptionally nice.”
Technically, in the state’s current vaccine plan, having a risk factor like lung cancer doesn’t lift anyone into the current phase.
Public health officials admit the cutoff is imperfect. But ultimately, the point is getting vaccine to the people who need it most — first.
“We try to be responsible,” says Gina Kay Reid of Eagleville, who says she chose not to slip in as she brought her husband and mother to get vaccinated on Wednesday. “If you take one and don’t necessarily need it, you’re knocking out somebody else that is in that higher risk group.”
Davidson County will begin vaccinating seniors over 75 this weekend, with plans for 1,200 vaccinations each weekend for the rest of the month.
The Metro Public Health Department has already established a signup list here. People can also call 615-862-7777. The vaccines are available only by appointment at this point.
All of the major health systems have also announced plans to vaccinate patients over age 75.
The move to the new phase of vaccine distribution also includes outpatient healthcare workers or those who work in mortuary services. Health officials say they will have to provide proof of employment.
Starting today, COVID-19 vaccines will be offered to Phase 1A2 and those age 75+.
Employers in Phase 1A2 will either be contacted or can email our team with the information below.
Age 75 and older can sign up for an appointment at https://t.co/mGy8v1HCiX or call 615-862-7777. pic.twitter.com/v4wKcPCzpF
— NashvilleHealth (@NashvilleHealth) January 7, 2021
Almost every other county in Tennessee moved ahead with seniors earlier this week, with some holding mass vaccination events and most taking appointments. Nashville is about a week behind the rest of the state in moving to people over 75. Health officials have cited the city’s large contingent of frontline health workers. Davidson County has more than any other part of the state, with 55,000 people in the 1a1 phase.
As of Thursday morning, 30,000 Davidson County residents had been vaccinated. According to MPHD, that includes 26,000 health care workers, roughly 1,700 first responders and nearly 1,400 other frontline workers.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper moved into quarantine today after learning of a positive COVID-19 test for his wife, Laura.
The mayor’s office says she is not showing symptoms.
“We’re all super fine,” Cooper tells WPLN News. He says his three sons and pet dogs will socially distance at home until getting tested in a few days. Cooper says he’s taking that approach to ensure test results are accurate.
WPLN News asked if the virus hitting close to home changes his perspective.
“It’s just an amazing figure,” said Cooper, pausing for emphasis. “10% of the county [has tested positive].”
Cooper, 64, plans to work remotely while isolated. He says it’s the perfect time to quarantine since the NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend is coming up, with playoff games that include the Tennessee Titans.
Deputy Mayor Brenda Haywood will represent the mayor at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Metro Council.
Updated Wednesday, Jan. 13.
Tennessee has published an interactive map with links to signup pages for each county, which have changed since this post was originally published. The map also shows which phase of distribution each county is in.
Reported previously
Tennessee residents over 75 are now eligible to get the COVID vaccine. But how and where — even if it’s available — depends very much on where you live.
Listener Josh Murray left us a voicemail this week.
“I’m calling you because I don’t have anyone else to call,” he said. He hadn’t heard back from the state health department, and local health departments have been swamped with inquiries just like his. He wants to know how to get his 87-year-old grandmother vaccinated.
The answer, as of Tuesday, Jan. 8:
As of Wednesday, Davidson County has opened up vaccination based simply on age. Both Nashville and Memphis have more health care workers and first responders to get through than other counties, so they are about a week behind the rest of the state.
Now every county has moved on to seniors, though a new interactive map from the Tennessee Department of Health does not yet reflect that. Each is making its own strategy to reach all its elderly residents:
“It is pretty disparate right now,” says Dr. Lisa Piercey, who leads the state health department. “It’s working on the local level, but some of it is pretty rudimentary. I’ll leave it at that.”
The state is working on a centralized scheduling system, but that’s still a few months out.
Chattanooga is doing max vaccinations each weekday but has had to limit people by alphabet (A-K on one day, L-Z the next) to reduce demand at the Riverpark site. Jackson-Madison County, in West Tennessee, has scheduled a come-one-come-all event for seniors on Thursday at the city fairgrounds. But it’s only open to Madison County residents.
Jackson has also developed what Piercey says may become a “best practice” for using any leftover vaccines at the end of the day: The local health department asks that any residents — no matter their age or occupation — signup for a call to race down to the health department within 30 minutes to use any doses that might go to waste. Most packages — whether the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine — must be used up within six hours.
Piercey says her own aunt and uncle who are in their 60s got a call at 8 p.m. and made it in time to use remaining doses.
Tennessee ended 2020 with more COVID deaths than some of the worst early predictions. And those same models now show fatalities in the state could double by April 1.
The state ended the year reporting nearly 7,000 confirmed and probable fatalities from COVID-19. That number will increase since there’s usually at least a two-week lag for reporting COVID deaths.
More than a third of the deaths were reported in the month of December, meaning the pandemic is still accelerating. Roughly 2,400 deaths were reported last month, making it the most deadly month of the pandemic — by far.
Deaths from COVID have doubled since the first of November. And given the record number of hospitalizations, physicians expect January could be even worse.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington has been updating its modeling since early in the pandemic. In late April, it was predicting 1,500 deaths in Tennessee and up to 50 deaths per day. By late September, the model was showing 6,000 deaths for 2020.
But the model has become more accurate over time as physicians learn more about how the disease progresses. The IHME prediction is now that Tennessee hits 14,000 COVID deaths by April before fatalities begin leveling off.
As school resumes this week, more districts will be all-virtual learning again. That’s the case for Sumner, Williamson and Wilson counties, and the Lebanon Special School district, as of Monday morning.
The districts are citing rising cases of COVID-19 and fears of a post-holiday surge, as well as encouraging families to practice social distancing.
“As you are aware, our state and community COVID-19 data are at an all time high. Throughout these difficult 10 months, we have been committed to continual monitoring and decision making based on all the information at hand,” Lebanon Schools Director Scott Benson wrote in a letter to families.
Metro Nashville is also starting virtually later this week.
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