While many Midwest states are making headlines as COVID-19 is reaching new highs, cases are increasing across the country. This includes Tennessee, which is surpassing its summer highs in new cases per day. See the graph below.
Even more concerning is that hospitalizations are nearing summer peaks as well. See the graph below which shows the number of people in Tennessee hospitalized with COVID-19.
The issue with hospitalizations is that the new wave of COVID-19 cases could overwhelm healthcare capacity. According to an article on News 4 Nashville’s website, the number of available beds at Nashville hospitals is at 5% of the total and intensive care beds are at 10% availability.
Urgent action is needed to slow the spread of COVID-19 in The Volunteer State. Sumner, Williamson, and Wilson counties in the Nashville metro area have all re-enacted mask mandates. The other counties need to follow suit. Even better would be for the governor to issue a statewide mask mandate.
Is this due to the universities opening up? That is the problem in Texas now.
Good question. I think it is a combination of schools and universities re-opening and the expiration of mask mandates at the end of September in many counties. One local school just shut down due to a cluster of cases. Hospitalizations seem to be driven by the recent surge in cases in rural areas, which tend to be older in terms of demographics.
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