MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Mike Osborne) -- In just the past five days Tennessee has marked record one-day, one-week and one-month highs for new COVID-19 infections.
On Sunday, Tennessee health officials confirmed an all-time high 11,352 new infections in 24 hours.
On Thursday, the state broke the record for new cases in a single week. With two reporting days remaining in the week, Tennessee has already recorded 50,277 new virus-positive cases.
Also on Thursday, December became the Tennessee pandemic’s worst month for new infections. With 14 days remaining in the month, December’s current total of 118,737 cases already exceeds the previous high recorded in November.
Roughly one Tennessee resident in fourteen has tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began in early March.
Tennessee has set new records for virus related hospitalizations six out of the last seven days. As of Thursday morning, state health officials were reporting 2,897 COVID-19 patients admitted to the state’s hospitals. Of those, 754 are receiving critical care in ICU, while 388 are currently on a respirator. ICU capacity statewide has fallen to 9 percent, while adult bed capacity has dropped to 12 percent.
Tennessee has also set a new all-time record for COVID-19 related deaths in a 24-hour period. A total of 177 fatalities were reported on Thursday, a shocking increase over the previous high of 100 deaths just nine days ago. Tennessee will likely set new one-week and one-month highs for COVID-19 related fatalities by the end of the week.
