Northeast Tennessee sees COVID-19 cases drop to lowest amount since last summer

Published 4:40 pm Thursday, March 10, 2022

FROM STAFF REPORTS

COVID-19 cases have dipped to the lowest number since summer 2021, according to information released Wednesday by the  Tennessee Department of Health.

Only 593 new cases were reported in the region between Feb. 27 and March 5, a drop of 57% from the prior seven-day totals.

The last time Northeast Tennessee saw less than 600 new cases in a week was in late July 2021, just before the rapid increase seen from the Delta variant. By September 2021, new cases were topping 1,000 per week.

In terms of community spread rates, which focuses on the number of cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period, every county in Northeast Tennessee saw a decline, with Carter County down 44% to 131; Greene County down 38% to 102; Hawkins County down 27% to 119; Johnson County down 29% to 191; Sullivan County down 39% to 130; Unicoi County down 49% to 123; and Washington County down 57% to 90.

And while these numbers decreased, the death toll from the virus has increased. Northeast Tennessee’s COVID-19 death toll increased by 30 last week, but only 15 of those fatalities actually occurred during that week. The other 15 deaths occurred in the weeks before but were not reported to the state until last week.

Ballad Health, a primary healthcare facility organization in the region, has also seen a decline in numbers, reporting Thursday that there were only 172 total COVID-19 patients in their hospitals, 35 COVID-19 patients in the Intensive Care Unit, and 24 patients on a ventilator.

Since the pandemic began, Northeast Tennessee has reported 149,019 cases and 2,275 deaths, while Carter County has had a total of 16,377 cases and 316 deaths.