Moore County almost doubled our seven day COVID cases totals the week. From October 16-23, Moore County gained 29 new active cases as compared to 15 in the previous seven day period. Our positivity rate for this week was 15.7 percent.

Regionally, Coffee County continues to be a regional hotspot with 163 new cases in the past seven days. Other counties were as follows: Bedford (99), Franklin (90), and Lincoln (82)

1 | State surpasses 3,000 dead Tennesseans due to COVID. On Thursday, Tennessee passed a sad milestone when the Tennessee Department of Health reported 3,011 deaths in the state due to COVID-19.

2 | Drive thru testing available in Grundy County this weekend. According to the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH), free COVID-19 testing will be available on Saturday, October 24 from 9 a.m. until noon at Grundy County High School located at 24970 TN-108 in Coalmont. TDH personnel will offer nasal swab testing and results should be available within 72 hours.

3| Tennessee hospitals and a college issue joint statement on rising COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday, three major Tennessee hospitals (Ascension St. Thomas, Tristar Health, and Vanderbilt Health) and Meharry Medical College issued a joint statement “Strongly urging everyone in Middle Tennessee, and all Tennesseans, to remain vigilant in the efforts to limit spread of the virus by wearing masks, washing hands, an staying socially distant — including not participating in large gatherings.” To read the full statement, click here.

4 | Coronavirus cases spiking in nursing homes. The White House coronavirus task force sent a sharp warning to Gov. Bill Lee last week saying the coronavirus numbers in nursing homes are spiking, contributing to the state having one of the highest spikes of the virus in the country. This included Moore County’s only nursing home. LNC tests patients and staff twice a week, according to the state and the most recent positivity rate is 15.4 percent. According to the state, the last positive test at LNC happened on October 12 or 11 days ago. The center must have no new cases for 14 days in order to be eligible for visitation.

5 | Hospitalizations are also spiking in Tennessee. As of Friday’s numbers, there are currently 3,756 confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state according to the TDH. This including 2,033 ICU cases and 1,723 patient on ventilations. Twenty one percent of hospital beds were available. Click here for the hospital capacity report.

6 | State launches new COVID 19 resource for citizens. Locals can locate a testing site, answer screening question to determine if you should be tested or quarantine, or view most a county and state dashboard. To visit the site, go to https://covid19tn.gov. •

{The Lynchburg Times is the only independently owned and operated newspaper in Lynchburg, Tennessee. 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.}