With the announcement of Friday’s numbers at 2 p.m., Tennessee reported 14,273 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last seven days (3,430 more than the previous week). Our state experienced 77 new deaths this week but the deceased rate remains at around one percent. According to the state, 42,734 total COVID-19 patients have recovered. That’s around 58 percent of reported cases. As of today, around 1.1 million of Tennessee’s 6.8 million residents have been tested. Here’s the top four things you need to know for this week:

1 | Moore County gained seven cases this week. Moore County’s case count jumped 60 percent this week from 17 cases to 28 cases as of Friday. Those 28 cases represent .0004 % of Moore County’s estimated 6,488 population.

2 | Curve not flattened in Tennessee. According to Johns Hopkins University, Tennessee has not successfully flattened the curve and numbers of new cases continue to outpace those who have recovered from the virus. In the last seven days, testing has confirmed 14,373 new COVID-19 cases while Tennessee Department of Health numbers show that 7,299 have recovered.

3| Positivity rate is increasing. When you test more, you get more positives. This is the refrain we’ve heard from some when we post our daily numbers … and, of course, that’s true. That’s why we instead focus on the positivity number – or the total number of new confirmed cases divided by the total number of new tests – to attempt to get an accurate take. Tennessee ended this seven day testing period with a positivity rate of 9 %. According to the World Health Organization, countries conducting extensive COVID-19 testing should remain at 5% or lower for at least 14 days before re-opening or loosening social distancing restrictions. According to the Cases and Labs by County report on the Tennessee Department of Health website, Moore County has tested a total of 719 folks making Moore County’s positivity rate around 4 %.

4 | Local retailers now require masks. This week, a number of national retailers – including Walmart, Kroger, Publix, Target, CVS, Starbucks, Lowes, and Best Buy – all stated publicly that they would begin requiring all customer to wear a mask inside their stores beginning as early as next week. The move is supported by the National Retail Federation, which on Wednesday stated that “shopping in a store is a privilege, not a right. If a customer refuses to adhere to store policies, they are putting employees and other customers at undue risk.”

{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Lynchburg. We cover Metro Moore County government, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Nearest Green Distillery, Tims Ford State Park, Motlow State Community College, Moore County High School, Moore County Middle School, Lynchburg Elementary, Raider Sports, plus regional and state news.}