As hospitals filled in October due to an the state sought help from long-term care facilities in creating step-down units for recovering patients. The units help hospitals turn over bed space more quickly as the virus hospitalizes people at unprecedented rates. At present, COVID patients are taking up nearly half of intensive care unit beds and account for 30 percent of all admissions across the state. The state gave funding to eight facilities to “make additional safety and quality accommodations to be able to care for COVID positive patients in designated units,” a spokesperson for the health department told the Post. Only four still receive funding — The Wexford House in Kingsport, Standifer Place in Chattanooga, Magnolia Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation in Covington and Foothills Transitional Care and Rehabilitation in Maryville. Among their 718 residents, more than half have been infected with the virus so far and 50 have died.