By Michelle Price
Special to the UCBJ
UPPER CUMBERLAND – It seems rural Tennessee is the place to be to avoid the COVID-19 virus. Pickett County, Tennessee’s smallest county by population, is one of only two counties in the state that has had no confirmed positive cases of COVID-19.
Pickett County has had over 100 more tests performed (177) than the other COVID-free county, Hancock (77), which ranks as the 92nd of 95 in population.
Van Buren County, the state’s second-smallest county by population, has had only two positive results out of the 216 tests performed there.
Both Pickett at 3.5% and Van Buren at 3.9% have had a higher percentage of their population tested than the state average of 3.3%, with Van Buren and DeKalb having the largest percentages of their population tested.
Tennessee’s overall percentage of those tested resulting in positive tests is down to 6.4% from a high of 8.7% on April 5, while the U.C.’s total percentage testing positive is down to 3.9% from a high of 5.8% on April 10.
There have been 10 deaths in the U.C. as a result of COVID-19, with one in Cumberland, three in Macon, five in Putnam and one in Smith County.
A total of 388 have tested positive in the U.C., and 227 (58.5%) have recovered. A total of 10,051 people have been tested in the region.
A total of 13,502 have tested positive across the state, and 6,081 (45%) have recovered.
As of May 5, of the 388 positive cases in the U.C., Cannon had 12, Clay had five, Cumberland had 84, DeKalb had 25, Fentress had five, Jackson had seven, Macon had 53, Overton had nine, Putnam had 139, Smith had 24, Van Buren had two, Warren had eight and White had 15.
The Tennessee Department of Health releases updated statewide coronavirus numbers daily at 2 p.m. State coronavirus numbers can be found here. A map with more detailed information is available here.
