Knox County reports 8 more COVID-19 deaths, most in a single day

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – The Knox County Health Department reported eight new COVID-19 deaths, the most reported by the county in a single day.

Knox County had twice reported seven deaths in a single day, once on Nov. 17 and again on Dec. 2, though data on the county’s COVID-19 dashboard showed not all seven died the same day.

There are 146 Knox County residents currently hospitalized due to COVID-19, also surpassing a previous record of 142 set on Tuesday, Dec. 8.

The health department also reported 383 new cases of COVID-19 among county residents on Thursday. The active case count grew to 2,835 on Thursday with 16 new active cases reported.

Knox County has reported 3,397 new COVID-19 cases in the first 10 days of December for a daily average just under 340. Knox County had not reported 400 new cases in a single day until December and has done so twice in the first 10 days of the month.

KCHD has reported 203 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic hit Knox County in March, 197 of those have happened since July 2.

Reported Knox County deaths by month

• December: 36 deaths
• November: 62 deaths
• October: 21 deaths
• September: 26 deaths
• August: 19 deaths
• July: 35 deaths

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs released a statement following the Thursday’s update from the health department:

“I know people are fatigued and frustrated. We’ve been dealing with this pandemic for eight months and I know we’re all doing the best we can. Sadly, now we have seen over 200 deaths as well as indirect and collateral damage such as rising drug-related deaths, suicides, food insecurity and the closure of our public schools,” Jacobs said. “Nevertheless, we must keep going as a community. The vaccine is coming – there is help on the way and hope at the end of this. In the meantime, we must continue following good public health guidance and utilizing the five core actions. It is also vitally important that we support, love and care for one another.”

The inactive case count has grown by 398 since Wednesday for a total of 20,187 in the county.

The Knox County Board of Health voted 7-3 in favor of passing a new COVID-19 Social Gathering Limitation Regulation last week, limiting some social gatherings to 10 people. The regulation went into effect Dec. 4.

As of Sept. 4, KCHD reports “inactive” cases instead of “recovered” cases. Inactive cases include those who are 14 days or more beyond their illness onset date or, for asymptomatic cases, their specimen collection date. This is in alignment with the Tennessee Department of Health.

Of the 21,898 total confirmed Knox County cases reported since the pandemic began, 649 of them have resulted in hospitalization. There are 1,327 probable cases listed on the Health Department dashboard.

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