NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Parents are facing some unwelcome news as Tennessee prepares to send its children back to school.

The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 among school age children is on the rise.

As of Friday, July 31, it’s been 149 days since Tennessee reported its first case of coronavirus.

However, in just the last 12 days the number of new coronavirus infections reported statewide among children 5 to 18 years of age jumped just over 36 percent.

Several mid-state counties are reporting even larger 12 day increases.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Nashville police have issued a scam alert for Metro residents.

Police warn that scammers are making calls pretending to be officers with the department’s Domestic Violence Division.

Victims are told that they’ve been implicated in human trafficking cases, and are then asked to pay to stay out of jail.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Nashville Mayor John Cooper continues to push Gov. Bill Lee to tighten pandemic restrictions statewide as COVID-19 cases continue to surge.

Cooper has repeatedly used his weekly press conferences to contrast Gov. Lee’s laissez-faire approach to infection control to more muscular efforts in other southern states.

A reporter on Thursday asked the mayor if he’s “frustrated” at Lee’s continuing resistance to additional restrictions.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Vanderbilt now has hard evidence that Tennesseans are delaying critical medical care out of fear of coronavirus.

Vanderbilt Bioinformatics specialist Dr. Adam Wright has published a study that documents a roughly 81 to 90 percent drop in high blood sugar screenings at health centers in Nashville and Boston.

Treatment for blood sugar problems dropped by as much as 52 percent.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  New coronavirus guidelines for the isolation of symptom-free patients have been introduced in Tennessee.

The Centers for Disease Control last week changed its recommendation for virus positive individuals who show no signs of illness. The CDC dropped its isolation requirement from two weeks to ten days for those patients.

The CDC says patients who do show significant symptoms may need to be isolated for as long as 20 days.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Democratic head of a congressional coronavirus oversight panel has demanded that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and three other Republican governors provide documents showing how their states are combating the pandemic.

Similar letters were sent to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.

The request Wednesday by Rep. James Clyburn comes just days after White House coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx traveled to Nashville to implore leaders to close bars and residents to wear masks.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne)  --  Nashville’s Coronavirus Task Force has asked Metro schools to postpone the start of sports until after Labor Day.

In a letter sent to schools Wednesday, the task force says its concerned about the spread of coronavirus between students, staff and spectators from different schools during intervarsity competition.

Practice sessions will be allowed to continue.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a Tennessee Democratic state senator has been charged with stealing more than $600,000 in federal funds received by a health care company she directed.

The U.S. attorney's office in Memphis said a criminal complaint was unsealed Wednesday charging Katrina Robinson with theft and embezzlement involving government programs and wire fraud.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over whether to keep absentee voting open to all eligible voters for the November election due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The hearing Thursday comes on the last day to request absentee ballots for the Aug. 6 primary election.

Last month, a state court judge ordered the absentee expansion during the pandemic, and the Supreme Court decided against blocking it for the primary.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Mike Osborne)  --  Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen was among those grilling U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr in the nation’s capital Tuesday.

Under questioning by the West Tennessee Democrat, Barr testified that he knew President Donald Trump planned to walk out of the White House for a photo op later that day when the Attorney General ordered federal officers on June 1 to forcefully push demonstrators out of Lafayette Park.