Coronavirus news in Tennessee: Cases reach 10,052 statewide

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Cases in prisons reach 756

According to information from the Tennessee Department of Correction, at least 756 inmates at prisons across the state have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday. 

Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville, a state prison, has at least 583 prisoners infected with the virus. The results for 36 people incarcerated there are pending. 

Approximately 25% of tested inmates have been positive for COVID-19. The New York Times ranks the Pikeville prison as the eighth largest cluster site for coronavirus cases. 

TDOC says the following facilities have cases: 

• Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville - 583
• Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville - 93 
• Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville - 38
• Turney Center Industrial Complex in Only - 38
• Turney Center Industrial Complex-Annex in Only - 2
• Mark Luttrell Transition Center in Memphis - 1
• Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville - 1 

Gyms to reopen in most counties 

Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday that gyms were allowed to reopen in most counties on Friday. 

Gyms and fitness centers in 89 of the state's 95 counties, not including the state's largest metropolitan areas, have been approved to reopen under the following guidelines:

• Limit capacity to 50%
• Adjust equipment layout or restrict access to keep people 6 feet apart
• Only allow patrons in during staffed hours
• Conduct cleaning every two hours of equipment and frequently touched surfaces in common areas
• Close showers and locker rooms
• Close basketball, raquetball and other courts
• Close swimming pools, hot tubs and saunas
• Only allow group fitness classes at half capacity
• Encourage customers and staff to wear a face covering
• Close water fountains and self-serve food and drink stations, along with common areas.

Cases reach 10,052 statewide

The Tennessee Department of Health announced Tuesday that coronavirus cases across the state had reached at least 10,052, an increase of 134 cases since Monday.

Of those infected, 188 have died, the department said, marking four new deaths in 24 hours. 

The department reported that 894 people have been hospitalized because of the virus, and 4,921 people have recovered. In the last 24 hours, 201 Tennesseans have recovered.

In total, 161,928 people have been tested for the coronavirus statewide. 

No reopening date set yet for Nashville

During Nashville's daily COVID-19 press conference Tuesday, Dr. Alex Jahangir, chairman of Nashville's coronavirus task force, said the day's increase in COVID-19 numbers over Monday's numbers marked the third straight day of case increases.

But overall, he said, the outbreak is neither growing or shrinking.

Jahangir said that as of Tuesday, the city was not yet ready to begin phase one of it's reopening plan.

Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, president of Meharry Medical College, noted some people are counting on upcoming warm temperatures to control the virus.

But he emphasized people can't count on the fact the virus isn't thriving in other areas of the world where it's winter. 

Hildreth reminded people it could be a year before a vaccine is found and asked people to remain at home unless they need to essentially travel.

Nashville reports 2,588 COVID-19 cases

Davidson County has tracked at least 2,588 reported cases of COVID-19, Metro Nashville officials announced Tuesday. That's an increase of 100 cases from figures released Monday.

The confirmed cases range in age from 2 months to 99 years.

Two additional COVID-19 related deaths were reported in Nashville on Tuesday — an 81-year-old male and an 82-year-old female, both with underlying health conditions. So far 24 people in Davidson County have died as a result of contracting the virus.

So far, 1,251 people in Davidson County have recovered from the virus.

Overall, officials in the city have administered 21,400 coronavirus tests. The positive rate of tests is 10.3%.

Gov. Lee appears on Fox News

Monday night, Gov. Bill Lee appeared on Fox News on The Story with Martha MacCallum. 

He repeated talking points he's shared with Tennesseans about his decision to allow businesses to reopen across most of the state. MacCallum called his approach "more on the aggressive side."

More:Nashville health department unsure what caused highest daily spike yet in COVID-19 cases

"We made our decisions primarily based on data," Lee said. "We've had weeks of downward decline in our cases. ... We've had a decreasing positivity rate for weeks."

As the state has relaxed its standards for conducting tests and implemented mass testing sites statewide, a smaller percentage of total tests have come back positive. However, the positive case count is still increasing.

Sunday saw the biggest jump in positive cases yet, with 478 new cases. Monday saw 251 new cases with 193 recoveries. 

When MacCallum asked Lee about his decision to not mandate health screenings at open businesses, and instead only to encourage them, Lee said he had "a great deal of trust" in business owners. 

"Tying a (COVID-19) case to a certain incident is virtually impossible to do," Lee told MacCallum.

Prisons are hot spots for COVID-19

As of Monday, 576 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville. The prison has seen a ballooning number of cases that has outpaced any other prison in the state since it began testing on April 10. 

In a nationwide analysis by The New York Times, Bledsoe County Correctional Complex has the country's eighth largest outbreak of cases tied to one facility, as of Monday. 

Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville has at least 91 cases.

In total, the Tennessee Department of Correction has tested 3,810 inmates, 747 of whom have tested positive.