Second Tennessee COVID-19 Fatality Reported

There are now two fatalities due to COVID-19 in Tennessee.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) reported the second death over the weekend.

Peggy Flanagan, Lt. Governor of Minnesota, posted on Instagram that the second Tennessee death due to coronavirus COVID-19 was her brother Ron, a former Marine.

She shared about her brother’s passing on Instagram and heeded a warning to others to stay home.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Almost exactly two months after we buried our dad, my brother Ron passed away on Saturday. To many, he’ll be a statistic: Tennessee’s second COVID-related death. But to me, I’ll remember a loving, older brother, uncle, father, and husband. Ron was a tough-as-nails Marine who was a big teddy bear on the inside. He never left my dad’s side during his final weeks and took care of everyone else in the way only he could. His politics didn’t match mine AT ALL (and we joked about it constantly) but Ron was a very good man who had an amazing capacity to love. I miss him dearly. Several weeks ago, Ron was diagnosed with cancer. His immune system was compromised and he contracted COVID-19. He was put in a medically induced coma and placed on a ventilator. He fought it as hard as he could but it was simply too much for his body. THIS is why we must #StayHome If you feel fine, that’s great. But please consider the possibility that you’re carrying the virus and don’t know it, and then you walk past the next Ron, my big brother, in public. COVID-19 now has a personal connection to me. Please do all you can to prevent one for you. #StayHomeMN

A post shared by Peggy Flanagan (@peggyflanagan) on Mar 22, 2020 at 7:43pm PDT

Almost exactly two months after we buried our dad, my brother Ron passed away on Saturday. To many, he’ll be a statistic: Tennessee’s second COVID-related death. But to me, I’ll remember a loving, older brother, uncle, father, and husband.

Ron was a tough-as-nails Marine who was a big teddy bear on the inside. He never left my dad’s side during his final weeks and took care of everyone else in the way only he could.
His politics didn’t match mine AT ALL (and we joked about it constantly) but Ron was a very good man who had an amazing capacity to love. I miss him dearly.
Several weeks ago, Ron was diagnosed with cancer. His immune system was compromised and he contracted COVID-19. He was put in a medically induced coma and placed on a ventilator. He fought it as hard as he could but it was simply too much for his body. THIS is why we must #StayHome

If you feel fine, that’s great. But please consider the possibility that you’re carrying the virus and don’t know it, and then you walk past the next Ron, my big brother, in public.
COVID-19 now has a personal connection to me. Please do all you can to prevent one for you. #StayHomeMN

Metro Health Department reported on March 20th that a 73-year old man was the first Tennessee COVID-19 fatality. 

On Sunday, Nashville Mayor John Cooper issued a “Safer at Home” order asking Davidson County residents to only leave their home for essential reasons. Vanderbilt Medical Center released the following statement after Mayor Cooper’s order.

“With the number of cases of COVID-19 rising rapidly, Nashvillians need to take every step now to slow the spread of the virus – to preserve precious healthcare resources to care for those who will soon need them. Mayor Cooper’s Safer at Home Order will save lives,” said Jeff Balser, MD, PhD, President and CEO, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

“By following the order, we can reduce the number of people who need hospitalization all at once, enabling us to manage the coming COVID-19 patients while also serving people with many other conditions, like heart disease and cancer, who will continue to need us.”

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