Record number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized as cases increase

JACK

SON, Tenn. — The Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department confirmed 29 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, making 88 total confirmed cases since Friday.

The also confirmed three new deaths, bringing the county’s total number of deaths related to COVID-19 up to 46.

“Let me just add that one of these deaths, this family has experienced its third death related to COVID-19, so that is just awful. I just want to send my condolences out to all three of these families that have lost loved ones,” Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department director Kim Tedford said.

The hospital also has the highest number of COVID-positive patients yet: 116.

Thirty-six of those patients are in the ICU at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.

“Normally, we would have 77, about that number, ICU beds. We have had to open up overflow areas and move patients around and create ICU areas, so we actually have more capacity for ICU at the moment,” said Amy Garner, chief compliance and communications officer for West Tennessee Healthcare.

And Tedford indicated she’s concerned about the positivity rate of infections, not just in Madison County, but across West Tennessee.

“Look at our numbers and see we are still seeing an increase. Our positivity rate, actually, I just looked, it’s hovering around 10 percent now,” Tedford said.

And patients are from all over the area because West Tennessee Healthcare serves more than just Madison County.

“The counties we’re seeing the majority of our patients from today are Chester County, Gibson County, Henderson County and Madison County,” Garner said. “We have several patients in our hospital in Dyersburg, from Dyer County. That’s another county where we’re seeing a lot of hospitalizations.”

The health department says there are 343 active cases in Madison County, with clusters identified at schools, churches and universities in the area.