COVID on the rise again in DeKalb County

23 Aug 2021
By: Dwayne Page

COVID is on the rise again in DeKalb County!

DeKalb County had 212 active cases of COVID-19 on Monday, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. This is 119 more than 10 days ago on Friday August 13. Sixteen new cases were recorded in DeKalb County on Monday alone.

As of the latest report, a total of 7,370 people (35.9%) have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine and 6,204 (30.5%) are fully vaccinated in DeKalb County.

There have been 57 deaths in DeKalb County since the pandemic began in March 2020 and 58 have been hospitalized.

In the past seven days (August 16-22), DeKalb County has recorded a case count of 148 for a daily case rate of 103.2 per 100,000 population.

Over the past 14 days (August 9-22), DeKalb County’s case count was 224 for a daily case rate of 78.1 per 100,000 population.

For the previous 14 days (July 26 to August 8), the number of cases was 67 for a daily case rate of 23.4 per 100,000 population.

From March 5, 2020 to August 22, 2021, DeKalb County recorded a total of 3,187 confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 for a daily case rate of 29.1 per 100,000 population.

Over the past 7 days, DeKalb County has performed an average of 59.6 tests per day (290.7 tests per 100,000 population) and over the past 7 days the average percentage of positive results was 19.4 %.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday issued full authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 years of age and older. The vaccine remains under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for people aged 12 to 15 years and for administration of the optional third dose for people with moderate or severe immunosuppression.

Full FDA licensed approval is given after more than 9 months of data review and continuous case study. The Pfizer vaccine has been available in Tennessee since December 2020 with approximately 3.4 million Pfizer doses administered to date.

The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) would like to remind Tennessee that COVID-19 vaccines are our best defense in preventing the continued spread of the virus. Vaccination rates across the state have increased over the past month as the state experiences an increase in COVID-19 cases due to the highly contagious Delta variant. In particular, young Tennesséens choose to receive the vaccine with the highest rate of increase in the 12-15 age group and the 16-20 age group.

Additional guidance from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is expected later this week, and the ministry encourages providers to review those guidelines once published. TDH will follow ACIP guidelines for vaccine administration. In addition, we are taking the necessary steps in our county health services in anticipation of continued demand.

Visit www.Vaccines.gov to find a vaccine site that offers the Pfizer vaccine. Additionally, local state health departments will administer the COVID-19 vaccine without an appointment required.

People seeking more information on COVID-19 vaccines can visit covid19.tn.gov or www.vaccines.gov to make an appointment with a local vaccine supplier.