Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger emphasized the fact that, as of today, there are no positive reports of the COVID-19 virus (known as the coronavirus) in Hamilton County.
"I said before that we would only have this conference in the event that we had a positive result. We do not have a positive confirmation on anyone with a COVID-19 virus," said Mayor Coppinger.
"We suspect that some time in the future, that won't be the case and we will have a case in Hamilton County."
"At that time, we will call you back together and give you as much detail as we can. That information information comes to us through the Tennessee Department of Health, which is in constant contact with our local health department on a daily basis."
Nakia Towns Edwards, representative for the school system, said that Hamilton County schools have been suspended from March 16 through March 20, and that the school system was discussing moving spring break from April to March 23 through 27. She said learning packets have been prepared with a week and a half's worth of material for students to go through.
Ms. Towns Edwards also said that while the salaried teachers will not be affected salary-wise, the school board was looking into how to financially assist hourly employees during this time.
Hamilton County Administrator of Public Health Becky Barnes urged residents to do as much as they could to avoid the virus by following a few steps.
"Wash your hands often with soap and water, or use hand sanitizer if soap and water is unavailable," said Ms. Barnes. "Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. Stay home when you are sick, cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing with your elbow or a tissue, which you should throw away immediately. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects. And I would add, please cooperate completely with public health with any contact tracing, isolation, or quarantining."
The state Health Department said Thursday that coronavirus cases in the state jumped from nine on Wednesday to 18 on Thursday. The department still listed no cases for the Chattanooga area.
As of today, there has only been one result in from a COVID-19 test conducted on a Hamilton County resident by a state lab. However, there are more samples that are currently being tested. There are commercial labs who can test for these as well.
Bev Fulbright, an epidemiology expert, said there are two people in Hamilton County being monitored after they returned from travel in Italy. As of now, they have exhibited no signs of being COVID-19 positive.
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