On Sunday, May 3, Tipton County recorded its biggest one-day spike in confirmed cases of COVID-19, going from 99 or 106 cases to 146.
The Leader is still working to find out what contributed to the increase.
One of the Tennessee Department of Health’s doctors reported Tuesday night the county was at 101 cases, and elected officials have been told it was as high as 106 cases, however the state had only reported 98-99 cases through Saturday. When reached for clarification on the numbers, Tipton County’s health department director said there was likely a lag in reporting.
The number of tests completed rose to 1,620 from 1,508 from Saturday. There are 1,474 negative tests (up from 1,409 Saturday) and 55 recoveries (up from 54 Saturday).
Statewide, there were 516 new cases Sunday, which is a 4.1 percent increase over Saturday. Friday and Saturday, Tennessee saw 11- and 6-percent day-over-day increases.
The state is seeing growing numbers of confirmed cases at prisons and nursing homes. Gov. Bill Lee announced last week the state would be testing inmates and employees at Tennessee Department of Corrections prisons and long-term care facilities.
There is an outbreak at Mason’s West Tennessee Detention Facility, a CoreCivic prison used by the U.S. Marshals to house inmates.
Being federal inmates, they are not included in Lee’s widespread testing effort, the U.S. Marshals confirmed Saturday afternoon. Further, the Marshals have not reported an increase in the number of confirmed cases at Mason since the outbreak was announced. The number of cases was reported at 29 on April 20.
Further, there are currently no plans to test WTDF staff members, CoreCivic confirmed twice in the last six days.
This week, Tennessee began its first phase of what Lee has called “safe and methodical” re-opening, allowing dining, retail and fitness establishments to open their doors for patrons at limited capacities. The effort also came with comprehensive guidelines for best practices called the Tennessee Pledge.
The spike means Tipton County now has the second highest numbers of cases in West Tennessee’s 21 counties, behind only Shelby County.
This is an ongoing story. The Leader will update when more information has been released.
What are the numbers today?
Confirmed cases: 146, which includes at least 29 inmate at the West Tennessee Detention Facility in Mason
Testing
Tipton Countians tested: 1,620+
Number negative: 1,474+
If you’d like to be tested, check out our list of testing sites.
Recovery and hospitalization
Number of Tipton Countians recovered: 54
Number hospitalized at Baptist-Tipton: 0
With at least 146 confirmed cases and 55 reported recoveries, this means there are at least 91 active cases of COVID-19 in Tipton County.
Author: Echo Day
Echo Day is an award-winning journalist, photographer and designer. She is currently The Leader's managing editor.
