With the announcement of Friday’s numbers at 2 p.m., Tennessee reported 22,085 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last seven days (1,890 more than the previous week). Our state experienced 27 new deaths this week. According to the state, 14,965 total COVID-19 patients have recovered. That’s around 67 percent of reported cases. As of today, 421,967 of Tennessee’s 6.8 million residents have been tested. Here’s the top four things you need to know for today:

1| State will no longer identify COVID patients to first responders. This week, Governor Bill Lee announced that the state health department will no longer provide first responders with the names and addresses of confirmed COVID-19 patients in their respective counties. At the beginning of the pandemic, the Department of Health originally declined to hand over identifying data but Governor Lee overturned that decision.

2 | In Tennessee, Chattanooga and Nashville are a hot spot. This week both Chattanooga and Nashville were identified as a national COVID-19 hot spot by a recent Dataminr Study. To read our coverage of that study, click here.

3 | CVS opens drive through testing centers. On Thursday, CVS Health announced the opening of 18 COVID-19 drive through testing spots in the state including spots in Murfreesboro and Nashville. Patients must register in advance at the CVS website. Tests will be processed through an independent lab and be available in around three business days.

4 | All Tennessee nursing home residents and staff must be tested by June 30. The Department of Health will now require all Tennessee nursing homes to complete a “intent to test” prior to June 30. Facilities that don’t test could be subject to losing their state license, suspensions, or fines. All nursing home and long care facilities also must remain closed to visitors for the time being.

{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.}