Blesdoe County shoots high up the Covid-19 case list
PIKEVILLE, Tennessee (WDEF) – The latest Covid-19 case map for Tennessee comes with quite a shock for the Sequatchie Valley.
Bledsoe County jumped from just 10 cases to 90 in one day.
But it is just a statistical jump.
County Mayor Gregg Ridley says the state has decided to count the cases from the Bledsoe Correctional Complex with the local numbers.
It is a state prison with three facilities, housing over 2,500 offenders.
At the beginning of the week, the numbers for the prison were:
2,335 tested
176 positive
308 negative
1,851 pending
(clearly, some of the numbers do not add up. Presumably, they are testing both prisoners & workers. Also the 80 names added to Bledsoe’s numbers do not match up with the 176 positive tests. Presumably, the others are being added to the county where they come from.. the 80 are either lifers or those not connected to another location)
Bledsoe is one of the smallest counties in the state by population.
But the statistical change now puts them in the top 15 out of more than 90 counties for positive tests.
And they shoot past both Bradley and Whitfield County for the second largest in our coverage area.
TDH-2019-Novel-Coronavirus-Epi-and-Surveillance
Bledsoe County in red
3 of 4 neighboring counties have tiny numbers
1 Van Burean
3 Sequatchie
4 Rhea
But Cumberland County/Crossville to their north has 60 cases.
Bledsoe County has an unusually high number of tests for our region, almost matching all of Hamilton County.
The state is also offering a drive thru tests Saturday at the High School.
Bledsoe County High School
877 Main Street, Pikeville
9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
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