Tuesday 23rd December 2025

TN Health Commissioner: ‘We Do Believe the Delta Variant is the Predominant Variant in Tennessee Now,” Regional Health Department Confirms 40 More COVID-19 Cases, Following Weeklong Spike

delta-variant
delta-variant

Image, Shutterstock

 

The Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department has received positive test results for 40 more cases of COVID-19 since Thursday, July 21. Wednesday, the department reported a total of 77 positive cases reported in a week’s time. Epidemiology staff  linked some of those new cases to summer travel and household contacts.

There is now a cumulative total of 11,722 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Madison County.

TN Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey reported Friday during an online forum that there are 1,000 breakthrough cases in Tennessee, with 195 hospitalizations and 27 deaths. Breakthrough cases are cases in which a person has been fully immunized and contracts COIVD-19.

“Almost a quarter of the cases are asymptomatic,” Piercey said. “For us herein Tennessee, over half of the cases are in people 60 and older.”

Piercey said those people likely have compromised immune systems.

Piercey said the Delta variant of COVID-19 is here in Tennessee and wide spread.

“We do believe the Delta variant is the predominant variant in Tennessee now,” Piercey said “While we don’t have exact numbers…we do know that it is a high percentage.  I suspect that it is likely approaching that of the national penetration of that variant, which is close to 80 percent.”

Piercy said the Delta variant has a stronghold in Memphis/Shelby County, which is not surprising because of the outbreaks in neighboring states Arkansas and Missouri.

The regional department’s epidemiology staff are reaching out to these individuals and people who had close contact with these cases.

The health department will send COVID-19 updates bi-weekly Tuesdays and Fridays starting Friday, July 23, 2021, until further notice.

The department also released the following demographic information about Madison County’s confirmed COVID-19 cases.

GENDER

Sex

Number of Cases

Percentage

Female

6539

55.8%

Male

5116

43.6%

Unknown

67

0.6%

 

HEALTH STATUS

Health Status

Number of Cases

Percentage

Recovered

11345

96.8%

Not Recovered

40

0.3%

Better

44

0.4%

Unknown

56

0.5%

Deaths

237

2%

 

ZIP CODE

Zip Code

Number of Cases

Percentage

38305

6954

59.3%

38301

3486

29.7%

38356

199

1.7%

38391

101

0.9%

38366

215

1.8%

38343

80

0.7%

38313

238

2%

38392

89

0.8%

38355

32

0.3%

38362

158

1.3%

38006

6

0.05%

38302

20

0.2%

38308

19

0.2%

38378

6

0.05%

38303

8

0.1%

Unknown

111

0.9%

 

RACE

Race

Number of Cases

Percentage

Black or African American

3176

27.1%

White

5144

43.9%

Asian

57

0.5%

Hispanic

285

2.4%

Other/Multiracial

223

1.9%

Unspecified

2837

24.2%

AGE

Age (years)

Number of Cases

Percentage

0-10

593

5.1%

11-20

1351

11.5%

21-30

1999

17%

31-40

1719

14.7%

41-50

1688

14.4%

51-60

1705

14.5%

61-70

1350

11.5%

71-80

760

6.5%

80+

478

4.1%

Unknown

79

0.7%

Find more information about COVID-19 from the Tennessee Department of Health at https://covid19.tn.gov/

. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated information and guidance available online at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.

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