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FROM STAFF REPORTS

Northeast Tennessee added 4,894 new cases of COVID-19 last week, 29% fewer than the 6,902 cases reported in the week prior and 42% fewer than the 8,480 new cases two weeks prior when the omicron surge peaked around the area.

And while the region’s community spread rate, which measures the amount of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people has dropped, Northeast Tennessee’s rate remains higher than the state’s with 968 compared to the statewide rate of 514.

All counties in Northeast Tennessee except for Washington County have a lower spread rate than that of the week before.

Carter County has gone down 30 percent, Greene and Hawkins County have gone down 37 percent, Johnson County has gone down 32 percent, Sullivan County has gone down 42 percent, Unicoi County has gone down 54 percent, while Washington County has risen two percent from last week.

In terms of the change in active cases by county, Carter dropped 305 cases, Greene dropped 894, Hawkins dropped 420, Johnson dropped 84, Sullivan dropped 1,387, Unicoi dropped 148, and Washington dropped 464.

The region’s active case count dropped to its lowest number since Jan. 11, reporting 7,910 which is around half of the record high 14,907 which was reported on Jan. 29.

Over the past week, the death toll in the region increased by 32 cases, a number that is down compared to the 36 that was reported in the week before.

As of Wednesday, 50.4 percent, or 254,710 people in Northeast Tennessee, have been vaccinated, with 624 of those coming in the past seven days.