Twenty-Three Die From COVID-19 in Last 24 Hours
New virus case numbers rose by 625 over the last 24 hours. The new total puts the total of all positive cases in Shelby County since March at 59,387.
Total current active cases of the virus — the number of people known to have COVID-19 in the county — rose to a record 6,049. There were 3,311 active cases last Friday morning. The figure had been as low as 1,299 in September and rose above 2,000 only in October. The new active case count represents 10.2 percent of all cases of the virus reported here since March.
The Shelby County Health Department reported 4,287 tests were given in the last 24 hours. Total tests given here since March now total 761,869. This figure includes multiple tests given to some people.
Area hospitals continued to strain with high patient numbers. As of Wednesday, there were 2,239 patients in acute care beds here, putting occupancy rates at 95 percent, according to the latest data from the health department. Of those patients, 378 were COVID-positive. Only 111 acute care beds were available Wednesday morning. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds were 97 percent full with only 15 beds available. Of the 423 patients in ICU beds now, 164 were COVID-positive.
The latest weekly positivity rate rose slightly. The average positive of test results for the week of December 6th was 12.4 percent, down from the 12.1 percent rate recorded for the week of November 29th
Twenty-three new deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours and the number now stands at 783. The average age of those who have died in Shelby County is 74, according to the health department. The age of the youngest COVID-19 death was 13. The oldest person to die from the virus was 101.
