Mornin’, y’all. Chloé here. It’s time for a quick COVID-19 update, even though you might be tired of reading about it, and we may be tired of writing about it. Pandemic fatigue is real. 🥵

But, it’s still happening. As school has started back, I’ve watched our intern Brianna, who is a Type 1 diabetic, (she’s had that underlying condition since second grade) struggle with the fact that she’s at a higher risk of becoming “severely ill” if she tests positive for COVID.

We understand that COVID-19 fatigue is setting in, but we can’t ignore it, so here’s a 1-minute update with all the new details you need.

Hamilton County — by the numbers

27 Hamilton County residents died in August from COVID-19. That’s the highest local toll for our area since the pandemic started.
13 of the 27 deaths were Black residents, who are disproportionately affected by the virus.
There have been 7,947 total cases so far in Hamilton County.
75 people in Hamilton County have died.

Fast facts

Hamilton County students who are enrolled in on-campus classes went back to school five days a week, adopting Phase 3 of the system’s plan.
27,000 students will be in person five days a week; 14,000 are alternating between in-person + virtual, and about 700 are all-virtual.
The CDC reported that 94% of deaths were people with underlying conditions. But that doesn’t mean that only 6% — or 9,000 Americans — have died from it. Most deaths from the virus had causes in addition to it, not instead of it.
ICYMI, Gov. Bill Lee extended Tennessee’s state of emergency through the end of September.

Testing + more info

AFC Urgent Care clinics will soon have three times more rapid tests so people without symptoms can get tests quickly. And you can always check the Hamilton County health department’s website for free testing sites.

P.S. We’re still looking to hear from people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and recovered, so email us if you’d like to contribute.

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