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Record 106 new COVID-19 cases reported in Hamilton County; free testing available over the weekend

Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Michael Scott, a cook at Chattanooga Smokehouse on Martin Luther King Boulevard, pulls his mask off his face as he talks on the phone during a break on Thursday, May 28, 2020 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Studies have shown preventing the spread of COVID-19 is significantly more effective when masks are worn by everyone who goes out into public areas. Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Michael Scott, a cook at Chattanooga Smokehouse on Martin Luther King Boulevard, pulls his mask off his face as he talks on the phone during a break on Thursday, May 28, 2020 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Studies have shown preventing the spread of COVID-19 is significantly more effective when masks are worn by everyone who goes out into public areas.

By Elizabeth Fite June 5, 2020 2 min read

The Hamilton County Health Department reported 106 new cases of COVID-19 Friday – the most new cases ever reported on a single day in the county – for a cumulative total of 1,381 cases. Of those cases, 569 are recovered and 793 are active.

Hospitalizations and deaths in the county remained stable Friday, with 34 COVID-19 patients total hospitalized, according to health department data. Thirteen of those patients were in intensive care. Nineteen residents have died due to the coronavirus.

While new cases indicate the virus is spreading, they are also the result of expanded testing in the county.

The health department updates testing data on its website sporadically. However, officials said in a news release Friday that between Monday (June 1) and Friday (June 5) the department conducted a combined 1,744 COVID-19 tests at its school testing sites – 891 tests at Brainerd High School and 853 at Orchard Knob Elementary.

These tests are in addition to other testing efforts going on in the county and through private providers.