Weekly Average Positive Rate Rises for Sixth Straight Week
New virus case numbers rose by 268 over the last 24 hours, putting the total of all positive cases in Shelby County since March at 41,393.
Shelby County’s healthcare resources pulled back from red-lining in two key areas over the last 24 hours. On Thursday, available beds in acute care and Intensive Care Units were 90 percent and 91 percent, respectively. Both have settled back from the red zone to the yellow zone as slightly more beds have become available.
Total current active cases of the virus — the number people known to have COVID-19 in the county — dropped slightly to 3,105 Friday morning. Though, 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 7.5 percent of all cases of the virus reported here since March.
The Shelby County Health Department reported that 2,665 tests were given the last 24 hours. Tests here now total 596,883. 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 November 1st was 9.5 percent. The figure rose slightly over the 8.8 percent average recorded for the week of October 25th. The new weekly average rate is the highest since late July, 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 sixth straight week that the rate has climbed.
Total deaths rose by 2 in the last 24 hours and now stand at 606. 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 7,904 contacts in quarantine.
