CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – If you’ve checked the COVID-19 data for Montgomery County recently, it appears as though we had 84 COVID deaths in the last week. That is not the case.

While cases of COVID-19 are continuing to rise locally, the mortality rate spike is only on paper. Last Wednesday, the Tennessee Department of Health announced it had reconciled a lag in the reporting and processing of COVID-19-related death certificates, which increased the number of reported deaths across the state.

Death toll numbers added all at once

According to data from the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, it appears the area saw 84 deaths in just the last week. This is because the Tennessee Department of Health Office of State Chief Medical Examiner reconciling outstanding death certificates with COVID-19 as an underlying cause of death.

“The lag in death reporting data can be (attributed) to many factors including the manual process most providers and facilities undertake, the increase in at-home deaths, and the strain on the public health infrastructure during case surges,” the news release from TDH said.

With those newly processed death certificates, the total number of COVID-19 deaths in Montgomery County since March of 2020 increased from 384 to 471.

That brings 2021’s total for the year from 258 up to 345.

TDH said it takes about eight weeks to process 75% of all mortality data. We won’t know exactly how deadly COVID-19 has been in Montgomery County this year until all death certificates have been processed.

“So we won’t have a complete picture of the COVID-19 deaths in 2021 until weeks and months after Dec. 31,” Joey Smith, director of the Montgomery County Health Department, told Clarksville Now.

Case increases

Local cases are on the rise. They have more than doubled in the last 10 days, according to data from the Clarksville-Montgomery County COVID-19 Dashboard Hub. On Dec. 19, there were 536 active cases in Montgomery County, and as of Monday, Dec. 28, there were 1,194.

The last time the area was about over 1,000 active cases was Oct. 4, amid the Delta variant surge.

Hospitalizations have also increased again.

“In both November and December, our daily average was 13 COVID positive inpatients, and we are currently caring for 22,” Sandy Wooten, Tennova Healthcare-Clarksville spokeswoman, said Thursday.

As a result, Tennova has restricted visitors from its emergency departments.

New isolation guidance

TDH updated its guidance on Wednesday for isolation after exposure in accordance with the CDC’s most recent recommendations. The changes have dramatically decreased the time required to quarantine after a positive test result and a potential exposure.

Those who have tested positive for COVID-19, regardless of vaccination status, must isolate for a minimum of five days after symptom onset or a positive test result, and they may be released after they are without fever for 24 hours and are experiencing symptom improvement.

After isolation, and regardless of symptoms, positive cases should continue to wear a mask when around others through the end of the 10-day period following symptom onset or a positive test result.

For close contacts, the difference in guidance comes down to whether the individual is fully vaccinated.

If you’ve been boosted or recently vaccinated and have been in close contact with a positive case, you do not have to quarantine if you remain asymptomatic. If the contact was not from your household, the guidance recommends you get tested five days after exposure, even if you are asymptomatic, and you should wear a mask indoors in public for 10 days following exposure or until test results are negative.

For household contacts that test positive, you can follow the non-household guidance if the positive individual can separately isolate. If you cannot separate from the positive individual, you should still get tested once five days after initial exposure and then again five days after that individual’s isolation ends.

If you have received your COVID-19 vaccine over six months ago and you have yet to receive your booster shot, or you are unvaccinated, the guidance recommends quarantining after exposure for at least five days, and on the fifth day getting tested. After that, you should self-monitor for symptoms and continue to wear a mask around others for five additional days.