The coronavirus is on track to kill more Tennesseans than chronic lung disease, accidents, and Alzheimer's, data from the state department of health, and the CDC shows.
As of Monday, 4,602 Tennesseans have died from complications due to COVID-19. This only lags behind the average annual deaths attributed to cancer (14,256) and heart disease (15,765) in the state, an average of five years of CDC data shows.
The coronavirus has surpassed average annual deaths from diabetes, flu and pneumonia, stroke, and suicide.
A post-Monday from Nashville state senator Jeff Yarbro makes a similar claim. He said, "In just 8.5 months, COVID has taken the lives of more Tennesseans than any of the following will during the entire year," and then listed various illnesses.
His tweet was shared by Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon among others.
Based on the data from the CDC and Tennessee Department of Health, we can verify Sen. Yarbro's claim to be true.