Health officials are recommending people in Nashville wear masks in public indoor spaces again, as the city’s COVID-19 levels have breached a “high” designation established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 community levels are calculated by the CDC using data on new cases, new hospital admissions and the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Several COVID-19 metrics have reached their highest marks in Nashville since the January Omicron surge.
Leslie Waller, epidemiologist with the Metro Public Health Department, says the new mark is the result of a slow and progressive change rather than a sudden jump, as Davidson County moved to a “medium” level a few weeks ago, and inched into the “high” community category last week. The seven-day case rate has changed more dramatically than the other metrics, and the current hospitalization rates aren’t cause for concern, Waller says.
This is the first time Nashville has reached the high zone, though the community level measurement was introduced as the country was coming off of the Omicron surge, she adds.
Asked what was the cause for the increase, Waller says, “Part of it is how the CDC does their calculations; part of it is that there is quite a bit of COVID transmission.”
In data released Thursday, the county hit 201 cases per 100,000 people, just over the threshold for the high denotation. In that same data set, Davidson County tallied 10.4 hospital admissions per 100,000 residents, and 2.3 percent of hospital beds were being used by COVID-19 patients. The three metrics are at their highest points since the January spike in Davidson County and have been rising steadily since a low in April.
Of those testing for COVID-19 in Nashville, 21 percent are positive today, compared to a peak of about 40 percent in January, though up from lows of 2.8 this year. Davidson County is registering about 80 active COVID-19 hospitalizations, compared to 509 during the January surge. The health department does not ask for at-home testing results, and the testing number is down overall, though Waller says the department can still spot trends in transmission. At the time of the announcement, Davidson was the only county in the state with a high designation.
The CDC recommends that people in communities with a high designation wear masks in public indoor spaces and get tested if they have symptoms. Metro Public Health added that additional precautions may be necessary for those at high risk for severe illness.
This article first ran via our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
