Coppinger Says Hamilton County "Very Fortunate" In Limited Extent Of Coronavirus Cases; Boyd Says Schools Budget Should Be "No Growth"

  • Wednesday, April 29, 2020

County Mayor Jim Coppinger said Hamilton County has been "very fortunate" in the limited extent of coronavirus cases.

He said the county has been averaging about nine patients per day in local hospital and about three in ICU. 

The county mayor noted, "Not all nine are from Hamilton County."

He said the 152 coronavirus cases here thus far represent 1.5 percent of total cases for the state of Tennessee.

There were some 1,400 people tested over the weekend with only testing positive, he said. Of those, two were showing no symptoms. Those two had family members who had earlier tested positive, he stated.

Of the 13 who have died from coronavirus here, all had underlying health issues.

County Mayor Coppinger told members of the County Commission on Wednesday morning that he has been "receiving more calls from people wanting to open back up, including an angry one this morning."

He said that is going forward, "but we need to keep in mind that we still have a pandemic. You don't want to let your guard down."

He added, "We can do both" - be cautious while restarting the local economy in a prudent, phased way.

There was little discussion about the county school budget. School board member Steve Highlander earlier said an update was expected dealing with declining revenue.

Commissioner Tim Boyd did say that school officials should present a "no growth" budget.

He said, "I don't want to see any adjustment over the amount they got last year. With so many small businesses facing what they are going through, it would be awful to be spending any more money than that."  

The school presentation is next week.

The School Board is set to meet on Thursday to vote on the budget, which is not asking for a tax increase. However, the request is up from $410 million to $420 million.

 

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