COVID infections drop 25% as omicron’s grip eases
Weekly test positivity rate has dropped 5%
Coronavirus infections fell by 25% last week as Tennessee continues into the end of the omicron wave, according to new virus data released by the state government on Wednesday.
Infections have now fallen for four consecutive weeks in Memphis and Nashville and for two consecutive weeks statewide. Although the omicron wave appeared to linger in northeast Tennessee, that region now is reporting declining infections.
Tennessee averaged 10,264 new infections per day in the seven-day span ending on Saturday, the lowest total since early January. The state’s weekly test positivity rate also fell from 37% to 32%, state data shows.
Despite the dramatic drop of infections, Tennessee still is reporting alarming heights for other virus measurements that are generally slower to change. The state averaged about 3,300 people hospitalized with the virus last week – about 85% of the hospitalization peak during the delta surge – according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaths continue to rise. Tennessee averaged 65 COVID-19 deaths per day last week and surpassed 23,000 virus deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Much of the recent death toll comes from nursing homes, where the virus is once again circulating. CDC data shows Tennessee nursing homes reported between 30 to 50 COVID-19 deaths for each of the past three weeks.
Brett Kelman is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 615-259-8287 or at brett.kelman@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @brettkelman.