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BY NIC MILLER
STAR STAFF
nic.miller@elizabethton.com

After recording one of the highest back-to-back day numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases last week, the data regarding the coronavirus in Northeast Tennessee has only grown since then, reaching a new high in the number of active cases in the region.

Last Friday, the Tennessee Department of Health recorded that there were a total of 5,632 cases of COVID-19 in Northeast Tennessee, a number that is slightly higher than the previous peak of cases recorded on December 20 of last year, which was 5,434.

Along with these totals, the Tennessee Department of Health also recorded that there were 591 new cases of COVID-19 in the region on Friday as well as 10 new deaths from the virus.

In terms of new cases by counties in Northeast Tennessee on Friday, Sullivan County leads the charge with 174 new cases and Washington County follows with 170. There is a slight drop-off after this mark due to population, but Greene County recorded the third-highest number of cases with 79, while Carter County follows behind with 64.

The three lowest rates of new cases on Friday come from Hawkins, Unicoi, and Johnson counties with 51, 37, and 16 respectively.

Over the past seven days, the numbers are much higher as expected, with Sullivan County recording 1,050 new cases, Washington County reporting 811, Greene County showing 503, Carter County with 434, Hawkins County recording 376, Unicoi County having 145, and finally Johnson County showing 102 new cases of COVID-19.

This number adds up to a whopping 3,421 new cases of the virus, a number much higher than that of the previous seven-day span, which was totaled at 2,759.

These numbers mark a total of 68,298 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the region of Northeast Tennessee since the pandemic began in April of 2020.

In terms of recorded deaths from the virus, Friday brought with it five people passing away in Sullivan County, two people in Hawkins County, one person from each county of Greene, Unicoi, and Washington, while Carter and Johnson counties recorded no deaths.

In the past seven days, there have been 11 COVID-19 deaths in Sullivan County, six in Carter County, five in Greene County, four deaths in both Hawkins and Washington counties, with Unicoi County reporting two deaths and Johnson County holding at zero.