New York Times ranks Chattanooga as No. 2 in growth rate for COVID-19 deaths

Staff photo by Troy Stolt / A health worker swabs a Marion County resident for coronavirus at a mobile testing location, located at Chattanooga State Community College's Kimball Site on Saturday, April 18, 2020 in Kimball, Tenn. Health workers from the Marion County Health Department and the Tennessee Department of Health work with members of the Tennessee National Guard worked together to provide testing at the site. Staff photo by Troy Stolt / A health worker swabs a Marion County resident for coronavirus at a mobile testing location, located at Chattanooga State Community College's Kimball Site on Saturday, April 18, 2020 in Kimball, Tenn. Health workers from the Marion County Health Department and the Tennessee Department of Health work with members of the Tennessee National Guard worked together to provide testing at the site.

By Wyatt Massey June 22, 2020 3 min read

The Chattanooga area is again getting national attention as the Hamilton County Health Department continues to announce new COVID-19 deaths.

On Monday, the Chattanooga area was listed as No. 2 on The New York Times list of “places that could flare up next,” as measured by the highest average daily growth rate of deaths.

Last month, Chattanooga appeared on the newspaper’s list for growth in the number of all cases identified, regardless of outcome. The Scenic City was ranked No. 5 and later No. 4 for a time.

Only Fayetteville-Springdale, Arkansas, outranks Chattanooga on the latest list, the one involving a growing rate of death. Bloomington, Indiana, is No. 3. According to the newspaper, deaths in Chattanooga are doubling every 10.2 days, and in Fayetteville-Springdale, it is every 8.6 days.

Hamilton County has announced nine deaths in the past week, including four since Friday, bringing the county total to 28.