COVID-19 in Tennessee: 2,251 new cases, 113 deaths reported on January 30 – WKRN News 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) The Tennessee Department of Health hasconfirmed additional cases and deaths related to COVID-19 across the state for Saturday, January 30.

The total COVID-19 case count for Tennessee is 724,742 as of January 30, 2021 including 9,574 deaths, 1,673 current hospitalizations and 680,847 inactive/recovered. Percent positive today is 12.22%. Full report with additional data at https://t.co/jlAz8a6Upp. pic.twitter.com/gB5Jc8SvBg

The health department reported 2,251 new cases, bringing the state to 724,742 total cases. Of those cases, 615,041 are confirmed and109,701 are probable.

TDH also confirmed 113 additional deaths, bringing Tennessee up to9,574 total deaths.

With 113 deaths reported Saturday, this is now the deadliest week of the COVID-19 pandemic for Tennessee. This week, 755 Tennesseans lost their lives to COVID-19.

Out of the confirmed positive cases, 680,847 are listed as inactive/recovered, an increase of 3,711 in the last 24 hours.

There are 1,673 people currently hospitalized in the state.

Tennessee has processed6,295,021 tests. The latest update added 17,253 tests to the states total.

This week. January became Tennessees deadliest month of the pandemic. The first month of 2021 currently accounts for more than a fourth of Tennessees total COVID-19 deaths. The state has reported more deaths this month than during the first seven months of the pandemic combined (2,454 total from Sept. 30, 2020).

Vaccine Tracker

To see what the vaccine availability is in your county, click here.

Tennessee health officials say they are receiving a modest increase in their weekly vaccine allocation, up from an average of 80,000 doses to about 93,000 for the coming week.

On Thursday, state Department of Health spokesperson Bill Christian confirmed the increase after Tennessee had been coming up short of the 90,000 doses weekly that federal Operation Warp Speed had promised after the state had received its initial allotments.

Montgomery County and Clarksville City leaders are working to find another location for administering the COVID-19 vaccine where the weather will not cause delays.

New COVID-19 Variants

A new, more contagious variant of COVID-19 from the UK is now spreading across the US and is expected to become the dominant strain of the virus by March. What many are wondering is if the current masking guidelines are enough to protect from this new variant.

A new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa has been found in the United States for the first time, with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina, state health officials said Thursday.

A variant from Brazil has also been discovered.

Data so farsuggests current vaccines should still protect against these variants, though theres some concern their effectiveness may be slightly diminished. There is some evidence that some antibody treatments may be less effective against certain variants.

A team of scientists and public health experts assembled by President Joe Biden briefed the public on the nations COVID-19 response efforts Friday, just one day after the newest variant was identified in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the emergence and increasing spread of coronavirus mutations means that vaccine makers must be ready to make new shots to stay ahead of the public health crisis.

COVID-19 in Tennessee

In a video on hisFacebook pagelate Thursday afternoon, Governor Bill Lee announced he would be rolling back restrictions at school sporting events across the Volunteer State.

Lee said in part, When case counts were at their highest we placed targeted restrictions on public gatherings and attendance at school sporting events. The data now reflects rapidly falling numbers and because of that data were lifting those restrictions on Monday, February 1. That means the temporary restrictions placed on sporting events at K-12 schools are rolled back and there are no further restrictions on who can attend or participate in school sporting events.

COVID-19 in Nashville

The Director of Metro Nashville Public Schools could announce a phase-in schedule for a return to in-person learning as soon as Monday afternoon.

In a statement released Friday morning, the districts communications director Sean Braisted said the COVID-19 risk score, a measurement tool of community spread that has been used by MNPS since November to determine when it is safe to allow for in-person instruction, dropped below 7 based on the data released by the Metro Public Health Department.

An investigation is underway in Nashville regarding a group of childcare workers who reportedly got vaccinated for COVID-19 before their phase was slated. The Metro Health Department says Primrose Academy staff members received the vaccine at the health department despite childcare falling into phase 1b.

Restaurants and bars that serve alcohol in Nashville and Davidson County will now be allowed to remain open until midnight daily beginning Monday. Mayor John Cooper made the announcement Thursday morning during his weekly news briefing.

Music City Center in downtown Nashville will become a COVID-19 vaccination site beginning Saturday.

Read the original here:

COVID-19 in Tennessee: 2,251 new cases, 113 deaths reported on January 30 - WKRN News 2