Hospitalizations rise as COVID-19 cases increase in Madison Co.

JACKSON, Tenn. — Positive COVID-19 tests and the number of patients in hospitals are, once again, increasing.

Thursday morning, the Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department and local leaders held their first virtual press conference in months on the spike in cases.

“We do know that the delta variant is present in Jackson-Madison County, based on state reporting,” said regional director Kim Tedford.

Tedford says the delta variant is a part of the cause of the spike in cases.

The health department has reported 121 new cases of COVID-19 since Tuesday, about 46 people a day.

West Tennessee Healthcare CEO James Ross says they are also seeing a spike in hospitalizations at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.

“We have 95 COVID patients in the hospital. Of that 95, we’re running 15 that are on the ventilator,” Ross said. “Right now, we are already seeing a high number of ventilator cases.”

But Tedford says they are not planning on issuing another mask mandate.

“We can’t police that. We don’t want to tell people, we don’t want to give people a mandate on what to do. We’re here to give you information, and the recommendations from the people that study the data, and that know most about COVID-19 and the spread,” Tedford said.

They are highly recommending COVID-19 vaccines for anyone who is eligible.

“The number one public health tool that we have to fight this are vaccines,” Tedford said.

Over 97,000 vaccines have been given in Jackson and Madison County.

Tedford says the majority of the positive cases are unvaccinated individuals.

The Jackson-Madison County School System is having discussions on Friday about masks under revised guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.