Tennessee ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for largest increase in new COVID-19 cases

TIPTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WMC) - As of Tuesday, July 13, 2021, Tennessee is number one in the U.S. for largest increase of new COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks per 100,000 people.

Tipton County is the number one county in the entire nation for new cases.

Data from the state, county, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed by The New York Times shows what doctors have been warning about, an explosion in cases in the Mid-South fueled by the fast spreading Delta variant.

In the last 14 days, Tennessee has seen a 400 percent jump in new COVID-19 cases, making it the top spot for coronavirus spread in the country right now. Mississippi is seventh with a 159-percent increase in positive cases, and Arkansas ranks 14th with a 124-percent spike in new cases.

Tennessee’s vaccination rate is 38 percent. Mississippi is 33 percent and Arkansas sits at 35 percent.

Tipton County, Tennessee shows a 3,800 percent change in new cases per 100,000 people in the last two weeks. Davidson County, Tennessee, which is Nashville, is third in the country with a 3,600 percent increase in new cases.

In Shelby County, the COVID unit at Methodist Hospital has reopened as the Delta variant tears through the community.

“The people who’ve worked so hard, the doctors and nurses in these hospitals, have to go do this one more time,” said Dr. Jeff Warren, a member of the Memphis-Shelby County COVID Task Force. “It is draining to have patients come in and die on you. There’s nothing worse than having young people or people in the middle of their lives drop dead from something that could have been prevented. And you’re there and you’ve got to be the one to tell the family.”

The Shelby County Health Department reported 117 new positive cases in the last 24 hours. The death toll from COVID-19 in Shelby County is now 1,694.

Warren urges the unvaccinated to get the shot.

“What you’ve got, is the people who’ve been vaccinated are not the ones who are going in the hospital and dying,” he said. Ninety-nine percent of people in the country who are going to the hospital, being put on a ventilator, and dying have not had a vaccine.”

Warren confirms he has treated fully vaccinated people who got the virus, but he says none got seriously ill or died. He also advises to wear a mask if you think you’re coming down with something and you’re out in public, or in close contact with other people, including the fully vaccinated.

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