There were eight more deaths from the coronavirus in Hamilton County on Tuesday - the largest one-day total yet as part of a surge that is expected to continue with upcoming holiday gatherings indoors.
Of those that died, three were male and five were female; five were White, one was Black, and two were not yet determined; one was between the ages of 51-60, two were between the ages of 61-70, and five were older than 81, bringing the total to 148.
Hamilton County had 246 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The new total is 17,191.
Meanwhile, County Mayor Jim Coppinger on Wednesday made a plea for retired medical personnel to help handle the increasing number of COVID patients in local hospitals. He said they would not be working directly with COVID patients.
County Mayor Coppinger said, "We call on any person out there that’s retired – that’s a nurse or any kind of caregiver – that can help out in the hospitals. Not to help with COVID, but to free up the opportunities for nurses who could go and help with COVID, so we can have the opportunity to add more beds.
"If you’re willing to serve as a nurse, not in a COVID-19 situation, but to go in and backfill so that someone that is on the payroll so to speak can go serve COVID patients. We have bed capacity, but it also takes nurses. This is something we're running short of - not just in Hamilton County, but throughout the state, throughout the country."
The number of coronavirus cases in Tennessee is 347,972 on Wednesday with 2,118 new cases. There have been 92 more deaths from the virus, for a total of 4,466, said state Health Department officials.
The number of those who have recovered from coronavirus in Hamilton County is 14,897, which is 87 percent, and there are 2,146 active cases.
Hamilton County has 135 patients hospitalized from the virus, with an additional 26 suspected cases. Of those, 83 are county residents. There are 30 people in intensive care.
The state currently has 2,183 people hospitalized from the virus, 58 more than on Tuesday.
There have been 308,566 people who have recovered from the virus in Tennessee (89 percent).
Testing numbers are above 4.327 million across the state.
Here are the numbers by county:
Bledsoe County: 1,144 cases, up 5; 5 deaths
Bradley County: 4,845 cases, up 87; 35 deaths, up 2
Grundy County: 749 cases, up 7; 14 deaths
Marion County: 1,054 cases, up 14; 19 deaths, up 2
Meigs County: 460 cases, down 1; 12 deaths
Polk County: 641 cases, up 4; 15 deaths, up 1
Rhea County: 1,583 cases, up 16; 30 deaths
Sequatchie County: 502 cases, up 1; 5 deaths