Child Under 5 Dies From Coronavirus At Chattanooga Hospital; Tennessee Death Toll Reaches 24; Bradley County Up To 14 Cases

A child under five has died of coronavirus in a Chattanooga hospital, county officials said Wednesday.

Becky Barnes, Health Department administrator, said the child had underlying illnesses.

“It is our deepest regret to share with you today our first COVID-19-related pediatric death,” said Ms. Barnes, “As we mourn with the family, we also take this opportunity to urgently plead with each member of our community to practice social distancing by staying at home and take precautions to protect yourselves.”

She also said there are two new coronavirus cases in the county and both are under 18 years old. She said one is isolating at home and still exhibiting symptoms. Another has recovered at home. However, that child's sibling has become ill and is being tested for coronavirus.

Ms. Barnes said those children had not been at day cares or schools since they became ill.

Hamilton County now has 52 coronavirus cases with three deaths.

Ms. Barnes said Chattanooga hospitals are receiving coronavirus cases from the region. She said there are 18 confirmed coronavirus patients in local hospitals as well as 25 under investigation for coronavirus.

Continuing to urge social distancing, she said when people consider going to a store say to yourself, 'Is this worth spreading illness or death to a member of my family?' "

She said, "The peak of this is determined by us. It's hard, but this can get bigger and bigger if we don't have the will." 

The death toll from the conoravirus in Tennessee has risen to 24 - up just one since Tuesday.

Cases in the state jumped to 2,683 - up from 2,239 on Tuesday. Officials said 200 people have been hospitalized in the state from coronavirus. It is now in 80 of the state's 95 counties.

Bradley County is up to 14 cases of the deadly new strain of virus. Rhea County and Sequatchie County each have one coronavirus case.

Grundy County is up to six cases, Meigs County has one, while Marion County has increased to eight cases. Bledsoe County has two cases, and Franklin County has seven.

McMinn County has three cases and Monroe County has increased to five.

Metro Nashville Public Health Department officials announced a total number of 673 confirmed cases - an increase of 132 cases in the past 24 hours. The confirmed cases range in age from two months old to 84 years old. Health officials have confirmed the death of an 83-year-old man as the fourth person in Davidson County to have died after a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. Eighteen others remain hospitalized; and 90 people have recovered from the virus. The remaining cases are self-isolating at home and have mild and manageable symptoms.

There are 148 cases in Williamson County with two deaths.

Shelby County has shot up to 496 cases and has three deaths.

Knox County is at 78 cases with one death.

Please note regarding case counts: This data changes rapidly as labs conduct tests and identify new cases. Labs assign those cases to a county or leave that information blank. Metro and regional health departments then determine the appropriate county of jurisdiction during their public health investigation. We’re working to reduce the “pending” number to 0. Contact the local health department for county specific information. Cases among Tennessee residents are counted by their county of residence. Residents of other states who were tested at Tennessee healthcare facilities are counted as “Out of TN”.

The current case data for Hamilton County is as follows:

 

 

Age Demographics

† Not all of the details of a case may be available at the time of publication.

 

Sex Demographics

 

Race Demographics

 

For more information or questions about COVID-19, please call the hotline at (423) 209-8383, or visit the Health Department’s website at Health.HamiltonTN.org.