Every day, the Tennessee Department of Health releases figures tracking the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in each county and statewide. In an effort to raise awareness about these figures and understand how our changes in behavior – including business closures, school closures, and sheltering in place for non-essential workers – are impacting infection rates, NashvilleHealth is sharing daily tracking updates and insights based on Department of Health data.
Here is the latest data as of 3pm on March 26th. Tennessee reported cases are still trending up, with a notable day-over-day increase from 784 to 957 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey explained that this larger day-over-day increase was simply reflective of the time delay in testing, not a big spike in cases. We should expect to see a substantial increase in documented cases as testing ramps up. For example, in Davidson County they have set up three COVID-19 assessment sites with adequate staff and PPE to test Nashvillians, but to date have not been able to open the sites because of a shortage of testing kits. As these testing sites come online, the documented cases will inevitably rise.
The data continues to reflect that our confirmed cases skew towards a younger population, with 75% of all TN confirmed cases in patients aged 21-60. Governor Lee acknowledged this in his daily press briefing, saying, “To the young people in Tennessee, it matters what you do out there.” It is likely why, to date, our hospitalizations remain lower than 10%.
Data acquired from the Tennessee Department of Health Website, analyzed by NashvilleHealth Board Member Sajid Khan