Coronavirus in Tennessee: Knox County reports 222 new cases & 77 new inactive cases on Sunday

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – Knox County reported no new deaths and over 200 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

The Knox County Health Department reported 222 new cases of the novel coronavirus, along with 77 new inactive cases.

Beginning Friday, “Inactive” cases will be reported instead of “Recovered” cases. “Inactive” cases include those who are 14 days or more beyond their illness onset date. This is in alignment with the Tennessee Department of Health.

There are now 1,720 active cases in Knox County up from 1,573 reported on Saturday.

Knox County has had 62 coronavirus-related deaths; 57 of them since July 2. The county reported 19 deaths in the month of August and four so far in September.

Of the 7,406 total confirmed cases reported in Knox County since the pandemic began, 284 of them have resulted in hospitalization at any point during the illness. There are 50 patients currently hospitalized in the county.

The number of inactive cases is at 5,889 on Sunday, which is up from 5,812 on Saturday. “Inactive” cases include those who are 14 days or more beyond their illness onset date. This number also refers to those who have been released from isolation after 10 days from their onset of symptoms, plus 24 hours of being symptom-free. Recovered does not mean necessarily the person had to be hospitalized.

Knox County Health Department lists 265 probable cases of COVID-19 on the county website.

Testing returned to the Jacobs Building in Chilhowee Park this week. Testing hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

KCHD updates its numbers daily at 11 a.m. Visit covid.knoxcountytn.gov for more information. Press briefings by Knox County Health Department are on Tuesday and Thursdays. Briefings begin at 12:30 p.m.