NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — On Monday, an additional 623 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Tennessee, bringing the state's total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak began to 18,011.
The Tennessee Department of Health said as of May 18, 301 Tennesseans have died and 9,886 have recovered from the coronavirus.
The state has seen a total of 1,489 hospitalizations due to the virus.
More than 337,000 tests for COVID-19 have been administered.
Metro health leaders confirmed an additional 28 cases of COVID-19 in Davidson County. The total number of cases in the county that have been confirmed since early March is 4,160.
As of Monday, 43 people have died and 2,863 people have recovered from COVID-19.
Davidson County is now seeing an average of 51 newly confirmed cases per day. Metro health officials say Nashville is in a downtrend in average cases and the spread of the virus is slowing in the area.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper gave update on COVID-19 and reopening Davidson County on Monday morning.
Mayor Cooper was joined by Dr. Alex Jahangir, chairman of Nashville's coronavirus task force, Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, president and CEO of Meharry Medical College, Dr. Melissa McPeethers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Bart Herbison from Nashville Songwriters Association International.
Watch the full update below:
The mayor's office has dialed back from its daily updates on the virus and will now only host live conferences on the situation on Mondays and Thursdays.
Since phase one of reopening in Nashville began last week, the Metro Public Health Department has received 400 complaints of businesses not following guidelines, the majority of them being employees not wearing masks.
The city believes most of these businesses simply don't understand the new rules and the department said it will continue to follow up on the complaints.
So far, four citations have been issued.
Editor's Note: We are publishing updates to our COVID-19 count multiple times daily, but with a new story created each day to help track the growth of the virus in the state. Our latest reporting will always be at the top of our website at https://www.newschannel5.com. If this story is more than 24 hours old, (the date this story was published is available at the top of our story, just under the headline) please head to our homepage for our most accurate information.
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COUNTY-BY-COUNTY CASES IN TENNESSEE
What is COVID-19 (a.k.a. the new coronavirus?)
According to the World Health Organization, coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases. Examples include the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV)and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. COVID-19 stands for "Coronavirus disease 2019," which is when this strain of the coronavirus was discovered.
What are the symptoms?
The CDC says patients confirmed to have the 2019-nCoV reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with:
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Or at least two of the following symptoms:
- Fever
- Chills
- Repeated shaking with chills
- Muscle pain
- Headache
- Sore throat
- New loss of taste or smell
At this time, the CDC believes symptoms could appear as soon as two days after exposure, or as long as 14 days.
Prevention
The CDC is recommending "common sense" measures such as:
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
