Montgomery County seeing uptick in COVID-19 cases

Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle

Clarksville-Montgomery County is seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases, according to state data.

The Tennessee Department of Health is reporting a rise in the average number of cases per day to 15.8 cases per day from May 1-14, up from the reported 12.1 cases per day from April 24 through May 7, which was an increase from the daily average of 7.9 cases per day reported April 10-23.

Through May 14 data, the county has reported 582 deaths, 50,624 cases and 704 hospitalizations.

Dr. Heather Phillips, the director of the Austin Peay COVID-19 Testing Center, works on preparing lab samples for tests at the Ard Building in Clarksville, Tenn., on Thursday, April 8, 2021.

The county continues testing for the virus, administering an average of 125.3 tests per day from May 7-14. There was an 11.9% average of positive cases from those tests.

In other news:Blood donations needed ahead of summer

From last month:COVID hazard pay for Clarksville city employees makes for 'tough decisions'

But cases remain low throughout the region.

Laura Boyd, a Public Affairs officer at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, Fort Campbell, said the hospital has seen a significant decline in positive COVID-19 cases in the past few weeks.

During the winter, when case rates were much higher, Boyd said there were upwards of 600 tests administered per day. Currently, the hospital is testing fewer than 100 per day. And there have been no hospital admissions due to COVID-19 in recent months.

Titus Daniels, associate professor of medicine for Vanderbilt University Medical Center said the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus is predominant in the Clarksville-Montgomery County area.

"In most people, symptoms are mild, especially in those who are generally healthy and have been previously vaccinated or ill with an Omicron variant," Daniels said.

Though deaths are reportedly low, Daniels said case reporting on deaths and new hospitalizations can lag between two to four weeks.

He said vaccination and booster shots remain the best defense against serious illness.

Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on Twitter @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to TheLeafChronicle.com.