Tenn. Identified as the worst location in the nation for COVID-19 infections

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (WVLT) – According to officials, the state of Tennessee has been identified as the location with the highest rate of COVID-19 infections per capita in the country.

Dr. Patrick O’Brien quoted the statistic at the Board of Health meeting Wednesday evening.

“You don’t want to be number one in the world,” he said. “It’s bad to say we’re number one, and that’s because we have the worst COVID rates by population in the world.”

A study conducted by covidexitstrategy.org reflects similar data. The website identified Tennessee and Ohio as the only locations in the country with more than 1,000 cases per million residents as of Monday. However, Tennessee, Arizona and Rhode Island topped the country on Wednesday, according to the New York Times.

“We have more deaths in the state of Tennessee than the entire population of Pickett County,” said O’Brien.

The New York Times has a COVID-19 tracking site, which lists the top 20 cities where COVID-19 is growing rapidly. Nearly half of the cities listed are in Tennessee.

The following Tennessee states made the list and are considered a city with “potentially bad news”:

-No. 3 Sevierville

-No. Cleveland

-No. 7 Athens

-No. 8 Tullahoma

-No. 9 Greeneville

-No. 11 Crossville

-No. 12 Morristown

-No. 17 Cookeville

-No. Nashville

-No. 19 Johnson City

You can find the rest of the list here.

The Board of Health considered sending a resolution to Gov. Bill Lee’s office requesting a statewide mask mandate to prevent the virus from spreading out of control.

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