Hamilton County on Thursday reported 16 more cases of coronavirus - bringing the total to 326. That follows a record 41 new cases announced Wednesday.
There have been 11 cases at a local Koch Foods chicken processing plant. County Mayor Jim Coppinger said, "They are still operational. We have been in contact with them and we have no reason to believe that we won't get some sort of cooperation from them like we have everyone else."
Hamilton County Health Department administrator Becky Barnes said, “These increases are continuing the same trend we’ve seen over the last week and a half. The cases are linked to work and then spread within families. There has been an increase in the zip code 37407.”
She said people in this zip code should not be fearful. Rather, Ms. Barnes advises residents to wear a face mask, to wash their hands, and to social distance. She also said there is no link to the spread of COVID-19 with reopening efforts.
“Please re-evaluate every trip or outing that you make, and do it safely and wear a mask or face covering,” said Ms. Barnes. “A mask sends a message to your community that you care.”
Ms. Barnes said the department has received another shipment of free masks, which are available for the public at the health department building. In addition to this, the Bonnyshire Drive testing site is still open on the weekdays.
“On Friday, the Chattanooga Housing Authority will be testing Boynton, Dogwood and Gateway Towers,” said Ms. Barnes. “On May 18, Mary Walker Towers will be tested, and on the 19th, Eastwood Manor, and then on the 20th, Avondale will be tested.”
Ms. Barnes also said the Health Department entered into an agreement with 911 in regards to information about COVID-19 in late March. She said the health department has stopped data-sharing, as personal protective equipment is more plentiful than it was over a month ago.
County Mayor Jim Coppinger praised the testing efforts of the county, and like Ms. Barnes, denied there is any connection between the reopening of businesses and the uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases in the county.
“We haven’t had a fatality or death in several weeks now, and we’ve been at 13 for quite some time. We hope we can continue at that pace,” said the mayor.
He said there are 14 hospitalized patients at the moment, and eight of the 14 are in intensive care.
“We will continue to monitor that number extremely closely, and I just want to say to the people and businesses and restaurants that have reopened, you’ve done an outstanding jobs in the restaurants, the retail, and the hair salons.”
He said that there are some “bad actors” that don’t comply with these guidelines. The mayor said that while he applauds reopening efforts, Hamilton County is still in a pandemic and the county still has a large number of vulnerable residents.
“We do know all 13 of the fatalities we have had were patients with underlying conditions,” said the mayor.
The mayor addressed the busy parks, saying that people being outside and “in the sunlight,” but that he disapproved of social gathering of more than 10 people. He said, “It won’t happen again,” but did not address how this will be strictly enforced.
County officials said there are a number of beds and ventilators available in case of a coronavirus surge in Hamilton County. There are 219 adult beds and 23 pediatric. There are 53 Intensive Care openings for adults and two for pediatric. There are 363 adult ventilators and 31 for children.
Shelby County has six more deaths to bring the total to 81. It has increased to 3,542 cases.
There were four additional deaths at Nashville in the past 24 hours – a 67-year-old man, a 74-year-old woman, a 70-year-old man and a 46-year old woman, all of whom had underlying health conditions.
Metro Nashville Public Health Department officials announced a total number of 3,889 confirmed cases of coronavirus - an increase of 10 in the past 24 hours.
Tennessee coronavirus deaths are up by 14 to 287, the state Health Department said.
Cases in the state went to 16,699 - up 329 since Wednesday.
Officials said 1,435 people have been hospitalized in the state from coronavirus - up 47 since Wednesday.
Bledsoe County remains at 603 cases with one coronavirus death. Almost all the cases are from Bledsoe County Correctional Complex at Pikeville.
Bradley County is up to 80 cases with one death.
Rhea County has six cases and no deaths.
Marion County is up to 30 cases. It has recorded one death.
Sequatchie County is up to 10 cases. Grundy County is at 30 cases with one death. Meigs County is at 22 cases. Franklin County has 41 cases with one death.
McMinn County is at 123 cases and 10 deaths. Life Care Center of Athens has had an outbreak of the coronavirus with nine patients dying.
Monroe County is up to 37 and it has one coronavirus death. Polk County is at 12 cases.
Sumner County (Gallatin) is up to 720 cases and now has 41 deaths.
There are now 456 cases in Williamson County and has 10 coronavirus deaths.
Knox County, with five deaths, is at 297 cases.