Total Virus Cases Top 40,000 As New Cases Surge
New virus case numbers rose by 691 over the last 24 hours, putting the total of all positive cases in Shelby County since March at 40,681.
Total current active cases of the virus — the number people known to have COVID-19 in the county — was 3,346 Monday morning. The figure peaked above 2,000 only three weeks ago. The figure had been as low as 1,299 in September. The new active case count represents 8.2 percent of all cases of the virus reported here since March.
The Shelby County Health Department reported that 8,252 tests were given the last 24 hours. Tests here now total 588,924. This figure includes multiple tests given to some people.
The latest weekly positivity rate rose slightly from the last time the figure was reported. The average rate of positive tests for the week of October 25th was 8.8 percent. That’s up over the 8.6 percent rate recorded for the week of October 18th. The new weekly average rate is the highest since mid-August, just as cases began to fall from a mid-July spike that had a weekly average positive rate of 12.7 percent. The new weekly positive average marks the fifth straight week that the rate has climbed.
Total deaths now stand at 589. The average age of those who have died here is 73, according to the health department. The age of the youngest COVID-19 death was 13. The oldest to die from the virus here was 100.
There are 7,995 contacts in quarantine.
