Shelby County reports 28% positivity rate with 510 new cases
Christ Community Health Services staff members collect nasal swabs during a walk-up coronavirus testing in September at Orange Mound Health Center. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
The Shelby County Health Department reported 510 new cases on Sunday, Dec. 20, for a total of 60,651 cases since early March.
The new data comes from a reported 1,805 tests bringing the daily positivity rate of about 28.3%.
The Health Department reported six new deaths, and 810 people have died in Shelby County from the virus. An estimated 53,669 people have recovered.
Hospital data is updated by Shelby County Health Department on weekdays. The most recent hospital data is from Thursday at 5 p.m. A reported 557 patients in area hospitals were being for treated COVID-19, and 163 of them were in intensive care units. Only 18 staffed ICU beds were available.
Acute care was at 93% capacity, while ICU was at 96% capacity. COVID-19 patients were utilizing 38% of ICU beds.
The Tennessee Department of Health normally releases its report daily at 2 p.m. However, Saturday, Dec. 19, it did not provide an update due to a large number of tests processed. The data was released Sunday.
Due to the volume of tests being processed, we anticipate releasing a combined report on December 20 to note both Saturday and Sunday case count updates. pic.twitter.com/RHErFGyY01
— TN Dept. of Health (@TNDeptofHealth) December 19, 2020
According to the state department, 6,347 new cases were reported Saturday. An additional 9,689 were reported Sunday. An total of 519,687 cases have been reported in Tennessee. An additional 111 new deaths were reported between the two days, and 6,071 Tennesseans have died with the virus.
An estimated 434,977 of those with COVID-19 have recovered.
As of Friday afternoon, 503,651 COVID-19 cases had been reported in Tennessee. The state estimated 425,264 people had recovered and reported 5,960 Tennesseans had died from the virus.
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COVID 19 cases COVID-19 Coronavirus in Shelby County Shelby County Health Department Tennessee Department of Health hospital capacityAbigail Warren
Abigail Warren is a lifelong resident of Shelby County and a graduate of the University of Memphis. She has worked for several local publications and covers the suburbs for The Daily Memphian.
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