KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Knox County is seeing a disturbing trend in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mayor Glenn Jacobs said on Friday that the Regional Forensic Center examined nine suspected suicide cases – eight of which are from within Knox County – in the past 48 hours alone.

That's 10 percent of the total number of suicides from all of last year, when there were 199 confirmed or suspected suicides from across the region and 83 in Knox County.

“That number is completely shocking and makes me wonder if what we are doing now is really the best approach,” Mayor Jacobs said. “We have to determine how we can respond to COVID-19 in a way that keeps our economy intact, keeps people employed and empowers them with a feeling of hope and optimism – not desperation and despair."

Knox Co. seeing an increase in suspected suicides during coronavirus pandemic | wbir.com