New COVID-19 data show that infection rates are declining throughout Tennessee
New cases of coronavirus fell 51% in Tennessee last week as the spread of COVID-19 continues to slow across the state, according to new data released by the state government on Wednesday.
The state had an average of 5,018 new infections a day over a seven-day period ending Saturday. The week before, Tennessee averaged 10,264 in the same time frame.
Infections in Nashville have dropped for a fifth week in a row, down 42% last week, when 2,543 cases were reported in Davidson County.
Nashville has averaged 1,684 tests a day. In the same time frame, 20.2% of the tests gave positive results.
Infections have been declining in Williamson County since 980 cases were counted last week. In the last weeks of January, more than 6,000 cases were counted, and in the last 14 days, less than 3,000 positive COVID-19 cases were counted.
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The enumerated cases of the virus are also declining in Memphis, where infections have also been declining for the fifth week in a row.
Despite declining infections, Tennesseans continue to die from coronavirus. The state had an average of 54 COVID-19 deaths a day last week, an improvement over the week before, when an average of 65 people died each day from coronavirus.
Since the start of the pandemic, 23,404 people across the state have died from COVID-19.
Arcelia Martin covers growth and development for Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Now Arcelia at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @arcelitamartin.