Nashville COVID-19 Cases Rise As Activities Move Indoors

By Dulce Torres Guzman, Tennessee Lookout

October 30, 2020

As COVID cases continue to rise, clusters are primarily happening in households and workplaces, said Dr. Alex Jahangir at Fabian Bedne’s press conference.

Bedne, a staff members for Mayor John Cooper, holds a weekly conference for Spanish language speakers.

The pandemic situation in Nashville is going from bad to worse, said Bedne. Hospitals’ capacity has reached emergency levels as COVID testing rates continue to rise. Cooper does not plan on another lock down or shelter in place order since nearby counties have started mandating personal protective equipment, Bedne said.

“We’re going to wait and see if the situation improves,” he said, “since the other counties are doing what they’re supposed to do.”

COVID clusters are primarily occurring in enclosed spaces and are not due to increased event capacity, according to Jahangir, who serves as chair of the new Metro Coronavirus Task Force.

He urged citizens to take more preventive measures than before.

“The most important thing we can do right now is wear a mask, avoid crowds more than 10 and get a flu shot,” said Jahangir, adding that COVID and the flu have created a deadly combination.

Although the situation isn’t great in Nashville, said Jahangir, “it’s not great all over the state.”

“In fact, we are number 63 out of 95 for disease activity in the state,” he said.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit network of state government news sites supported by grants and a coalition of donors.