KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – The number of active COVID-19 cases reported in Knox County jumped 32 percent Monday, up to *2,456.
That increase is a spike from 1,984 cases reported Sunday, and could represent the post-Thanksgiving increase that was forecast by health officials last week.
The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 also reached a record-high Monday, as the Knox County Health Department reported 14 more people being treated for the virus at area hospitals. That brings the total to 137 people hospitalized, surpassing a record of hospitalizations set on Thursday, December 3.
The Knox County Health Department also reported Monday that one more person has died from the virus. KCHD has reported 189 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic hit Knox County in March, 183 of those have happened since July 2.
Reported Knox County deaths by month
- December: 22 deaths
- November: 62 deaths
- October: 21 deaths
- September: 26 deaths
- August: 19 deaths
- July: 35 deaths
The inactive case count grew by 1 since Sunday for a total of 19,109 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 20,728 total confirmed Knox County cases reported since the pandemic began, 627 of them have resulted in hospitalization. There are 1,189 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.
*EDITOR’S NOTE: THIS POST IS UPDATED TO CORRECT AN ERROR BY THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT IN THE RELEASE OF DATA FOR DECEMBER 7. THE CORRECT NUMBER OF ACTIVE CASES IS 2,456 NOT 2,619 AS FIRST REPORTED.
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