MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Mike Osborne) — The latest data from state health officials out Wednesday showed the number new COVID-19 infections more than doubled during the month of April.
It’s clear now that the omicron surge ended in the last week of March. New cases began rising again the first full week in April.
The actual number of cases remains relatively small. Just 3,600 Tennesseans contracted the virus during the week that ended April 30. Compare that to the middle of January when well over 117,000 new infections were reported statewide in a single, seven-day period.
HOSPITALIZATIONS ALSO HEADED HIGHER
The number of Tennesseans under hospital care for COVID-19 is also on the rise again.
A data update Thursday morning by the Tennessee Department of Health showed hospitalizations fell to 128 patients statewide on April 23. But the number of virus positive patients in hospital is currently up 38 cases at 166 patients.
The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 fell to a single patient on April 18. As of Thursday morning there were 8 children hospitalized due to virus complications.
You may recall that at the peak of the omicron surge in late January there were some 3,400 covid patients straining Tennessee’s hospital resources.
METRO NASHVILLE PANDEMIC METRICS NOW RISING AS WELL
Metro Nashville’s COVID-19 numbers have also turned higher again.
It’s clear now that Metro’s omicron surge ended March 21. On that date the city was recording an average of 33 new infections each day.
The average daily case count has tripled since then. At the end of this past week, an average of 100 cases were being reported daily.
The number of new cases remains relatively low compared to the peak of the omicron surge. Back in early January Metro Nashville was reporting a daily average of nearly 1,800 new infections every 24 hours.