Hamilton County has added 40 new positive COVID-19 cases for a cumulative of 487 active cases in the county. Deaths remain at 13.
TVA said an employee at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant tested positive. It was reported on May 20, and the employee had not been at the job site since May 10 while home tending to a sick family member. The employee advised TVA on May 13 that a family member appeared to have the coronavirus. The employee initially had a negative test, but later tested positive. TVA has taken extra sanitary steps at the plant.
Health Department Administrator Becky Barnes said the county has released a new map showing the exact number of positive cases in each zip code.
“This replaces the one we had been issuing that had ranges, so this is more exact data that we are releasing to the community,” said Ms. Barnes. “We will be updating that map not daily, but once a week.”
While certain zip codes or areas have more cases than others, Ms. Barnes warned against having a “false sense of security,” and that anyone could get the virus. She stressed the highly infectious nature of COVID-19.
“What we call a cluster are two or more people who are not household members with a common exposure contact,” said Ms. Barnes. “Hamilton County has 20 clusters, and those clusters have ranged from two people in the cluster, to 29 people in the cluster.”
She said the county has created a map of the clusters, which shows that the workplaces are not always associated with where the positive cases live.
“The pandemic is not over. The more you stay at home, the safer you are,” said Ms. Barnes. “When you go out, wear a face mask and practice social distancing.”
The health department’s Carolina England said people interested in volunteering as a Tennessee reserve core volunteer can visit TNNRC.org. And if one is a bilingual student or faculty who would like to help with contact-tracing, they can also visit that website.
Director of Public Health Bill Ulmer announced the health department has been awarded a grant from the Community Foundation of Chattanooga. It is meant to assist with expanded testing. This will especially assist minority communities in the county, he said.
Nashville has 26 new coronavirus cases and one additional death to bring the total to 51. Cases are now at 4,530.
The additional death was a 91-year-old woman who had underlying health conditions.
There are now 4,034 confirmed cases in Memphis - up from 3,726. There have been six more deaths to bring the total to 91.
There are now 313 coronavirus deaths in Tennessee, the state reported.
Cases are up by 429 to 18,961. Hospitalizations increased 24 to 1,539.
Bledsoe County is at 607 cases with one coronavirus death. Almost all the cases are from Bledsoe County Correctional Complex at Pikeville.
Bradley County is up to 89 cases with one death.
Rhea County jumped from 13 cases to 188 related to an outbreak among migrant workers at a farm.
Marion County remains at 35 cases. It has recorded one death. Sequatchie County is at 10 cases. Grundy County is at 31 cases with one death. Meigs County is at 22 cases. Franklin County has 44 cases with one death.
McMinn County is at 124 cases and 12 deaths. Life Care Center of Athens has had an outbreak of the coronavirus and accounts for all the deaths in the county.
Monroe County is now at 55 cases and it has had two coronavirus deaths. Polk County is at 14 cases.
Sumner County (Gallatin) is up to 778 cases and now has 42 deaths.
There are 491 cases in Williamson County and it has 10 coronavirus deaths.
Knox County remains at five deaths and it has 321 cases.