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Great Smoky Mountains National Park latest organization to report a confirmed case of COVID-19

With more testing resources becoming available and increased awareness of coronavirus, more reports of the virus are emerging.

Companies are closing and people are staying away from each other, all to slow the spread of coronavirus. Yet, officials have said people should expect the number of coronavirus cases to continue to climb.

Hundreds of coronavirus cases have been reported in Tennessee alone, just as testing resources expand into new communities. 

A Great Smoky Mountains National Park employee tested positive for COVID-19, the park announced on Wednesday. They worked in the Cades Cove district and last reported for work on March 19, according to officials with the park.

The University of Tennessee also announced that an extension service employee tested positive for it, and Tusculum College announced five students with coronavirus. Even Tom Hanks and his wife announced that they had the virus, and they have since recovered.

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As coronavirus spreads, more community members, organizations, companies and neighbors will test positive for the virus, health officials have said. Efforts like social distancing, self-isolation and washing hands are not meant to totally stop coronavirus.

They're meant to keep people safer by reducing the rate at which the virus spreads. If it spreads slower, the healthcare system will be able to handle it better, officials have said in meetings with press members. If people continue taking steps to reduce the spread of coronavirus, anyone with the virus will be able to get treatment if they need it.

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However, the Knox County Health Department said that 80 percent of people who catch the virus only show mild symptoms. Six people have already recovered, even as the number of cases continues to climb.

 

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