Greenville, Tenn.
— — — The death toll from a massive outbreak of coronavirus has risen to 2,000 in a Tennessee hospital and a hospital-wide death toll of 300 more has risen, authorities said Friday.
In the city of Greenville on the eastern edge of Knox County, officials said two patients died Friday of the coronaviruses coronavillosis and coronaviral respiratory disease.
It was not immediately clear if the two patients had been hospitalized or how many people were in the hospital.
Officials said the health department reported that there were 2,184 cases of coronas on Friday, more than double the number reported on Friday a day earlier.
In total, the health agency said, more cases of the virus have been confirmed in the state since Friday than at any other time since the beginning of the year.
The state Health Department says more than 1,300 people were hospitalized, more per capita than at the same time last year.
The department said it has recorded 1,872 new coronavirence cases in the past two days.
The hospital where the death occurred said in a statement that it was notifying all of its patients of the death and was working closely with state health officials to provide them with information about their care.
“We are all grieving with them,” said the statement.
The hospital did not say how many of the people in the emergency room are patients.
The department said a number of other hospitals in the area have had similar situations, including one that was set up in a nursing home.
Officials at Hilton Healthcare in nearby Greenville were working with the state Department of Health and Human Services and other health agencies to help them provide the services patients need.
Hilton Health says in a news release that it has already provided 1,600 meals, including the basics such as food, medicine and water, to patients.
