Maury County's COVID cases fall 40.8%; Tennessee cases plummet 32.4%
Tennessee reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 6,101 new cases. That's down 32.4% from the previous week's tally of 9,029 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Tennessee ranked 38th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 24.9% from the week before, with 490,656 cases reported. With 2.05% of the country's population, Tennessee had 1.24% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, three states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Thanksgiving significantly disrupted who got tested, how many people got tested, what labs operated and what government agencies reported on time. Some governments reported only three days of data for the last week; some reported none. Before Thanksgiving, several dozen dozen states were reported rising case counts; in the week ending Sunday, only several states reported rising cases. The United States had been reporting nearly 700,000 new cases per week; in the week ending Sunday, that number was less than 500,000. With the week of Thanksgiving so artificially low, week-to-week comparisons will be skewed. Conversely, next week will appear artificially high and the rate of change in cases and deaths will be skewed the other way. These numbers are unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.
Maury County reported 71 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 120 cases and one death. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 19,759 cases and 237 deaths.
Across Tennessee, cases fell in 83 counties, with the best declines in Shelby County, with 433 cases from 911 a week earlier; in Davidson County, with 447 cases from 741; and in Rutherford County, with 284 cases from 489.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Tennessee ranked 43rd among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 56% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 68.8%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.
In the week ending Thursday, Tennessee reported administering another 209,702 vaccine doses, including 54,736 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 172,921 vaccine doses, including 29,823 first doses. In all, Tennessee reported it has administered 7,940,729 total doses.
Within Tennessee, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Johnson County with 247 cases per 100,000 per week; Scott County with 231; and Benton County with 223. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Davidson County, with 447 cases; Shelby County, with 433 cases; and Knox County, with 336. Weekly case counts rose in eight counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Cheatham, Morgan and Bledsoe counties.
In Tennessee, 139 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 160 people were reported dead.
A total of 1,309,931 people in Tennessee have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 16,959 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 48,229,210 people have tested positive and 776,639 people have died.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
Tennessee's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Nov. 28.
Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Last week: 1,093
The week before that: 936
Four weeks ago: 909
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Last week: 76,702
The week before that: 75,061
Four weeks ago: 69,423
Hospitals in 25 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 25 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 27 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Maury County COVID cases increased by 71 this week
