When the pandemic started and deaths were beginning to be counted,
on May 30, 2020, there were 5 deaths reported.

In 7 months an additional 288 deaths have been reported.

In one month, from December 26, 2020, to January 23, 2021,
there have been an additional 144 deaths reported.

Highest percentage jump in deaths in the 45-64 age group, from 39 deaths to 67, a 72% increase.
Highest increase in number of deaths in the 75+ age group, from 173 deaths to 260. 87 deaths in 29 days.

I cannot imagine what more can be said to convince those not practicing safety during a pandemic. Obviously they do not care about their fellow man.

---------------
As of May 30, 2020, there were 5 deaths from COVID-19.

As of December 26, 2020, there have been 293 deaths in Knox County from COVID-19.

9 in the 18-44 age group (3%)
39 in the 45-64 age group (13%)
72 in the 65-74 age group (25%)
173 in the 75+ age group (59%)

As of January 23, 2021, there have been 437 deaths in Knox County from COVID-19.

10 in the 18-44 age group (2%)
67 in the 45-64 age group (15%)
100 in the 65-74 age group (23%)
260 in the 75+ age group (60%)

Highest percentage jump in deaths in the 45-64 age group, from 39 deaths to 67, a 72% increase.

As reported on January 22, 2021, "Knox County Health Department workers will have administered 6,000 COVID-19 vaccines by" the end of day on January 24, 2021.

At this rate, it is estimated Knox County has averaged approx. 171 vaccines a day. This would mean that it would take 7.5 years to vaccinate all 470,000 residents of Knox County. Plus, they still have to give out the 2nd dose of the vaccine for 470,000 people.

We can only hope they are ramping up to administer a heck of a lot more vaccines in the future.

Although, according to the State of Tennessee, the state as a whole is doing better. It is reported that nearly 500,000 vaccines have been administered across the state. That would equate to approximately 14,285 vaccines a day. This would mean that it would take 1.5 years to vaccinate all 6.8 million residents of Tennessee. Then, of course, there is the second dose that has to be administered with 25 or so days of the first dose.

Wonder where the vaccines are going in the state?

Then there is this from the same WATE article, "Monroe Co. man shares vaccine experience, highlights struggles rural communities face."

It starts with figuring out how to get a vaccine.
You call phone numbers, can't get through. You try to make an appointment online, which not everyone is able to do. Then, if you do make an appointment there is not method to keep you up-to-date as to where you are in that line.

Vice President Harris

There is a great sigh of relief across this great nation.

According to the city, people who live in the 700, 800 and 900 blocks of Phillips Avenue – between Barber and Empire streets – are having a tough time finding street parking because it's taken up by patrons of nearby businesses, especially at night. In some cases, vehicles are sometimes blocking alleys and driveways.

“There’s been a lot of recent investment in the South Waterfront commercial district, and unfortunately, that’s caused some growing pains,” said Rick Emmett, the City’s Downtown Coordinator, who also serves as a liaison between South Waterfront stakeholders.

Local residents can now sign up for tags to hang from their rearview mirrors. The city has now allocated street spaces on Phillips Avenue for those vehicles with the tags. Signs were posted in the area this week.

Glad SoKno is moving on up. Just wish there was more future planning instead of reacting. Just think if lots more condos, townhouses, and businesses are added to the area. Where will the throngs park?

A mob has stormed the U.S. Capitol, using violence to stop the lawful certification of the Electoral College vote.

Warnock makes history with Senate win as Dems near majority

The happiest new year will be January 20th. Just 20 days!

I'm so excited!

Coronavirus cases rising steadily, up 10.3% in the past week.

Coronavirus deaths rising, 35 deaths in the past week.

Five deaths a day.

Of the 5 Benchmarks sorta, kinda used to determine how Knox County will handle managing the coronavirus, all 5 are in the Red.

*** As of December 26, the 7-day average positivity rate was 20.5% (down from 24.4% two weeks ago, up from 15.3% the week of December 5).

Positivity rate preferred to be below 3%.
As of December 12, 2020, Knox County is in the Red Zone and has been since November 8, 2020.

The Knox County Health Department reports 29,119 coronavirus cases and 2,778 probable cases.

That's 2,731 new cases in the past week,
That's a 10.3% increase over one week ago.

There are 138 Knox County COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized.
Two more than a week ago.

There have been 293 deaths in Knox County from COVID-19.

Thirty-five deaths due to COVID-19 in the past week.

That's a 13.6% increase in deaths in the past week (258 as of 12/19, 211 as of 12/12, 186 as of December 5).

Highest jump in deaths in the 45-64 age group, from 31 deaths to 39.

9 in the 18-44 age group (3%)
39 in the 45-64 age group (13%)
72 in the 65-74 age group (25%)
173 in the 75+ age group (59%)

The date displayed for ICU availability is the same as last week, December 15, even though the numbers have changed
As of December 15, 2020 (again), ICU Bed availability is at 7.7% (284 ICU beds total with 22 beds available) .
ICU bed availability is down as compared to a week ago.
(Note, The week of 12/1/2020, ICU bed capacity rose to 284, the week of 9/1/2020, ICU bed capacity was 278, then the week of 9/8/2020, ICU bed capacity was raised to 374, then the week of Sept. 22 ICU bed capacity has been reduced back down to 278.)
(Note, prior to the 8/4/2020 report, ICU bed capacity was 272. It would appear that Knox County hospitals have increased ICU bed capacity by 6 beds.)

The County Health Department has a map with the number of coronavirus cases per zip code.
On December 25, 2020, these zip codes were reported with the most cases:

37918 has the most cases with 2,573 cases (population 44,476) (15.0% increase)
37920 with 2,363 cases (population 39,000) (14.9% increase)
37922 with 2,144 cases (population 41,539) (16.5% increase)
37923 with 1,714 cases (population 30,000) (14.8% increase)
37919 with 1,705 cases (population 28,000) (13.7% increase)
37921 with 1,673 cases (population 28,000) (12.1% increase)
37917 with 1,239 cases (population 27,000) (13.5% increase)
37916 with 1,096 cases (population 12,507) (2.3% increase)

Be careful out there.

** For December 23, 2020, the daily positivity rate was 17.5%.
The positivity rate for the last 7 days was 19.6% (down 2.2% from 12/18, up 8.8% from 11/6 (10.8%)) ***
Positivity rate preferred to be below 3%.

There has been a steady increase in coronavirus (covid-19) cases in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Department of Health and Tennessee’s Unified Command Group announced the launch of a new website to provide COVID-19 data, additional health information and relevant updates to Tennesseans. Select the DATA option towards the top right for Tennessee and county numbers.

According to the TN Dept. of Health,

560,892 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in TN and
6,443 have died from it.

That is an additional 57,241 cases in one week and
an additional 483 reported deaths.

5,484,597 tests have been given to Tennessee residents.
That is an additional 272,151 tests in the past week.

Hospitalizations are down. From December 18 to December 26 (8 days) the number of patients hospitalized for the coronavirus has decreased by 2.6% (by 76 from 2,889 to 2,813).

In the State of Tennessee, hospital bed availability was at 20% (up 5%) on December 26 and ICU bed availability was at 12% (up 3%).

10.2% of TN residents tested for the coronavirus have tested positive for the coronavirus.

79.6% of the 6.89 million people estimated to live in TN have been tested for the coronavirus.
However, that may not be true. it is not known how tests are counted when a single person gets tested multiple times. Certain people in certain fields of work (medical, education, sports) or physical ability (nursing home residents, hospital patients) may get tested multiple times.

Be careful out there.

Good snow. Two plus inches.

Apparently many road problems in the area.

Someone appears to be saving a house in South Knoxville.

We encountered a large team moving this house on Phillips Avenue near Suttree Landing Park.

The winter solstice 2020 was Monday, December 21, 2020, at 5:02AM EST.

I missed it even though I was so looking forward to the days starting to get longer. On the other hand, it is the official start of winter with colder weather for a couple of months.

Has anyone begged lately for everyone to wear a mask, practice social distancing, and care for their fellow man?
Yes, but many Tennesseans do not heed the pleas. The numbers show how sad it is.
New records of cases.
New records of deaths.
Alas, for those of you who do care, please keep it up

Coronavirus cases rising steadily, up 16.5% in the past week.
Coronavirus deaths rose dramatically, 47 deaths in the past week.
Nearly seven deaths a day.
Of the 5 Benchmarks sorta, kinda used to determine how Knox County will handle managing the coronavirus, all 5 are in the Red.

*** As of December 11, the 7-day average was 24.4% (up from 19.4% last week, which was up from 15.3% the week before that).
Positivity rate preferred to be below 3%.
Currently when going to the State of TN Dept Health Coronavirus website for this info get a 404 error.
As of December 12, 2020, Knox County is in the Red Zone and has been since November 8, 2020.

The Knox County Health Department reports

26,388 coronavirus cases and 2,073 probable cases.

That's 3,728 new cases in the past week,
That's a 16.5% increase over one week ago.

There are 136 Knox County COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized.
Five more than a week ago.

There have been 258 deaths in Knox County from COVID-19.
Forty-seven deaths due to COVID-19 in the past week.
That's a 22.3% increase in deaths in the past week (211 as of 12/12, 186 as of December 5).

8 in the 18-44 age group (3%)
31 in the 45-64 age group (12%)
61 in the 65-74 age group (24%)
158 in the 75+ age group (61%)

As of December 15, 2020, ICU Bed availability is at 8.8% (284 ICU beds total with 25 beds available) .
ICU bed availability is up as compared to a week ago.
(Note, The week of 12/1/2020, ICU bed capacity rose to 284, the week of 9/1/2020, ICU bed capacity was 278, then the week of 9/8/2020, ICU bed capacity was raised to 374, then the week of Sept. 22 ICU bed capacity has been reduced back down to 278.)
(Note, prior to the 8/4/2020 report, ICU bed capacity was 272. It would appear that Knox County hospitals have increased ICU bed capacity by 6 beds.)

The County Health Department has a map with the number of coronavirus cases per zip code.
On December 10, 2020, these zip codes were reported with the most cases:

37918 has the most cases with 2,237 cases (population 44,476) (15.6% increase)

37920 with 2,057 cases (population 39,000) (16.0% increase)
37922 with 1,841 cases (population 41,539) (18.2% increase)
37919 with 1,499 cases (population 28,000) (15.4% increase)
37923 with 1,493 cases (population 30,000) (19.0% increase)
37921 with 1,492 cases (population 28,000) (14.0% increase)
37917 with 1,092 cases (population 27,000) (12.6% increase)
37916 with 1,071 cases (population 12,507) (2.1% increase)

Be careful out there.

Has anyone begged lately for everyone to wear a mask, practice social distancing, and care for their fellow man?
Yes, but many Tennesseans do not heed the pleas. The numbers show how sad it is.
New records of cases.
New records of deaths.
Alas, for those of you who do care, please keep it up.

** For December 18, 2020, the daily positivity rate was 15.2%.
The positivity rate for the last 7 days was 21.8% (up 4.4% from 12/11, up 11% from 11/6 (10.8%)) ***
Positivity rate preferred to be below 3%.

There has been a steady increase in coronavirus (covid-19) cases in Tennessee.

The Tennessee Department of Health and Tennessee’s Unified Command Group announced the launch of a new website to provide COVID-19 data, additional health information and relevant updates to Tennesseans. Select the DATA option towards the top right for Tennessee and county numbers.

According to the TN Dept. of Health,

503,651 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in TN and
5,960 have died from it.

That is an additional 60,698 cases in one week and
an additional 560 reported deaths.

5,212,446 tests have been given to Tennessee residents.
That is an additional 342,612 tests in the past week.

Hospitalizations have increased. From December 11 to December 18 (6 days) the number of patients hospitalized for the coronavirus has increased by 8.7% (by 190 from 2,699 to 2,889).

In the State of Tennessee, hospital bed availability was at 15% (down 1%) on December 11 and ICU bed availability was at 9% (down 2%).
Currently when going to the State of TN Dept Health Coronavirus website for this info get a 404 error.

9.7% of TN residents tested for the coronavirus have tested positive for the coronavirus.

75.7% of the 6.89 million people estimated to live in TN have been tested for the coronavirus.
However, that may not be true. it is not known how tests are counted when a single person gets tested multiple times. Certain people in certain fields of work (medical, education, sports) or physical ability (nursing home residents, hospital patients) may get tested multiple times.

Be careful out there.

“All public health officials must make clear that if you are over 65 or with significant health conditions, you should not enter any indoor public spaces where anyone is unmasked due to the immediate risk to your health; you should have groceries and medications delivered,” this weeks regular report, issued Sunday, says.

It’s a warning that Tennessee state leaders have yet to publicly deliver to the state’s residents

Tennessee and Ohio are the only places in the world where the infection rates have hit 1,000 per million.

Tennessee has eight of the top twenty cities where coronavirus cases are increasing the fastest.

But, the Governor says go about your lives, go to a music event, play sports, etc. Just be careful. How's that working out?

TN Gov. Lee stood in front of an audience of doctors and urged

"all residents to be vigilant and to continue acting responsibly during this pandemic."

"One thing this vaccine will not solve, or cure is selfishness or indifference to what is happening to our neighbors around us," he said.

Hah! He dare mention selfishness and indifference?

“Tennesseans need to wear a mask. It’s important, it works,” Lee said. “We need you to wear a mask, if you haven’t worn a mask we need you to contemplate doing that.”

Contemplate?

Tennessee has one of the worst records of coronavirus. Highest levels of deaths. No leadership. Please send him back to the private sector.

TNJ: On the Hill

...Tennessee and Ohio as the only places in the world where the infection rates have hit 1,000 per million.

Tennessee has eight of the top twenty cities where coronavirus cases are increasing the fastest.

Those Thanksgiving gatherings really helped boost Tennessee numbers.

Biden/Harris confirmed by electoral college. Yeah, again.

William Barr resigns. Yeah.

Coronavirus vaccine is available to first groups in the U.S. YEAH!