Twenty-four Tennesseans with COVID-19 have died as the number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 2,600, Gov. Bill Lee said during his daily media briefing Wednesday.
According to the Tennessee Department of Health, there are 2,683 COVID-19 cases in Tennessee, up by 399 cases from Tuesday’s reported 2,239 cases. There were 175 hospitalizations as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, which rose by 25 Wednesday to 200 hospitalizations.
Lee said the state is preparing for the “worst-case scenario” as state braces for surge of COVID-19 cases in the next couple of weeks. He said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking at converting convention centers, college dormitories, hotels and other facilities into makeshift hospitals to meet the needs of the surge.
NewsChannel 5 reported that new modeling data from the University of Washington, made available Wednesday, suggested the COVID-19 outbreak will peak in Tennessee April 19, with the state in need of 14,945 hospital beds. Currently, there are only 7,812 available beds, but Lee said we should have about 7,000 more by the outbreak.
The model also projects that 2,301 Intensive-Care Unit beds will be needed, but there are only 629 ICU beds statewide.
Lee said every county in Tennessee has received a shipment of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and that 10,000 face shields have been created through 3D printing by higher educational institutions.