HERE IN KNOXVILLE, THE HOSPITALS ARE THE EMPTIEST THEY’VE BEEN AT THE MOMENT: Hope, exhaustion, fear: Health workers in quiet areas prep for COVID-19 chaos while colleagues in other cities rush in. I doubt that’ll last, though I certainly hope it does. The 1918 Flu hit Knoxville very late — so late that some people thought we had some sort of immunity or protection — but when it finally got here it hit hard, like everywhere else.