COVID Hospitalizations Declining  

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was last updated on Jan. 22.

The Hamilton County Health Department reported 182 new  cases of COVID-19 on Friday. The total number of people in the county who tested positive for the virus since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at 36,834.

The total number of people who have died from the virus since the beginning of the pandemic remained at 337.

On Friday, the number of people hospitalized continued to decline and stood at 124, a decline of almost 70 patients from a week ago. Thirty-seven people are now hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit, about half the number from two weeks prior.

The number of active cases across the county on Friday stood at 2,700. 

On Friday, the health department’s “hot spot” map showed East Ridge with a total of 2,207 cases, trailing East Brainerd (5,548), Hixson (3,932), Ooltewah (3,733), and Soddy-Daisy (2,457) in the total number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

Click on the link below for statewide statistics:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/tennessee-coronavirus-cases.html

Mayor Coppinger announced in a Sept. 3 press conference that wearing masks will be mandatory through October 8. On October 6, he extended the mask mandate another 45 days. The mayor has now pushed out the mandate until March 31

Defying the mask mandate is a Class C Misdemeanor, punishable by a $50 fine or up to 30 days in jail. 

Free face coverings will be available for pick-up at the health department’s E. 3rd Street offices. Tubs of face coverings are located at both circle entrances, officials said.

Click on the link below for complete health department case data as of January 22.

 http://health.hamiltontn.org/AllServices/Coronavirus(COVID-19).aspx