Nearly Half Of U.S. Cities With Fastest Growing Coronavirus Cases Are In Tennessee

Tennessee is all over a top-20 list from the New York Times, but this is nothing to celebrate.

The New York Times COVID-19 tracking site lists the top 20 cities where the coronavirus is growing the fastest. Nearly half of them are in Tennessee — mostly in the eastern half of the state.

As of Tuesday morning, Sevierville ranks at No. 5 in the country. That’s followed Cleveland, Athens and Greeneville. Cookeville, Crossville and Tullahoma also make the list. And Jackson was added Tuesday at No. 20.

Knoxville and Morristown were bumped from the list Tuesday, which changes daily according to state reports of new coronavirus cases.

Of the Tennessee municipalities that have appeared this week in the top 20 surging cities, Knoxville, Sevierville and Greeneville have required face coverings consistently since July. Jackson has a mandate now, but let it expire between September and November.

The New York Times COVID-19 tracking page updates a list of the top cities with surging cases each day. This screen shot was taken Tuesday morning.

Tennessee also stands out on the Johns Hopkins University tracking site, with the state in a more critical situation than anywhere else in the country. For the past two days, Tennessee has announced more than 10,000 new cases — far surpassing previous daily records.

This image from Johns Hopkins University shows states in red where coronavirus cases per capita are spiking.

Correction: This post initially overlooked some cities with mask mandates. It has been updated with details about Sevierville, Greeneville and Jackson.