KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — As of Wednesday, there have been 422,962 total COVID-19 cases in Tennessee — enough to fill Neyland Stadium nearly four times.
It is also almost the total population in Knox County. About 470,000 people live in the county, and there are almost 41,000 active cases. That is about twice the population of Union County right here in Tennessee.
While cases surge across the country the state reached another unfortunate milestone. On Monday, Tennessee surpassed 5,000 deaths.
That's more than four times the number of traffic deaths last year, more than twice as many people who died from diabetes, and it's higher than the number of firearm deaths, homicides and drug overdose in 2017 combined.
It tops the number of overall accidental deaths and flu deaths in the state as well. With numbers rising each day health professionals believe the need for a vaccine is vital in fighting these numbers.
According to the state 376,851 have recovered.