Hamilton County Has 1 More Coronavirus Death; New Health Guidance Extends Quarantine Periods For Household Contacts

  • Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The Hamilton County Health Department is adding ­­83 new COVID-19 cases today (Tuesday), along with 90 historical probable cases, for a total of 173 cases. This is a “data catch up” on probable cases that have been determined to be Hamilton County cases and have not been previously counted. The total cases in Hamilton County is now 6,986. 

There has also been another death in the county due to the virus, bringing the toll to 63.

According to the CDC, a probable case:

Meets clinical criteria AND epidemiologic evidence with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19.

Meets presumptive laboratory evidence AND either clinical criteria OR epidemiologic evidence.

Meets vital records criteria with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19.

The Hamilton County Health Department has been including probable cases in their daily case count since the end of June.

Probable and confirmed cases are treated equally in contact tracing, isolation and quarantine actions.

The Health Department said it is committed to clear and transparent data, which is why they are noting this data merge and the updating of negative tests that is ongoing.

Additionally, the state of Tennessee issued new quarantine guidance for household contacts of a positive person. The household contact’s 14-day quarantine period will not begin until the positive person in the household has completed their minimum 10-day isolation. The Hamilton County Health Department updated their policy on the date the State issued the guidance.

This new guideline means household contacts will often need to stay home for a minimum of 24 days, depending on onset of symptoms, which could extend the quarantine period longer. It is imperative to follow this guidance closely as the virus can be incubating during this time frame, said officials. Leaving quarantine too soon can result in the spread of COVID-19.

Hamilton County has had 5,338 residents recover from the virus.  There are currently 1,585 active cases in the county, an increase of 75.

There are 58 COVID patients in Chattanooga hospitals, including four that are suspected. Those include 26 Hamilton County residents. Intensive Care numbers have been coming down and now are at 21.

Tennessee had 39 more coronavirus deaths bringing the total to 1,426, state Health Department officials said. 

There were 1,034 new cases in the state for a total of 135,778.

There were 100 more patients hospitalized to bring that total to 5,981.

There have been 96,896 people recover from the virus.

Testing numbers are above 1.891 million.

Here are the numbers by county:

Shelby County: 24,905 cases, up 107; 340 deaths, up 6

Davidson County: 22,190 cases, up 185; 231 deaths, up 1

Knox County: 5,349 cases, up 52; 43 deaths

Bledsoe County:  752 cases, up 1; 2 deaths

Bradley County: 2,192 cases, up 17; 16 deaths

Franklin County: 384 cases, up 1; 4 deaths

Grundy County: 133 cases, up 3; 2 deaths

Marion County: 262 cases, up 4; 5 deaths

McMinn County: 627 cases, up 10; 20 deaths

Meigs County: 121 cases; 1 death

Monroe County: 526 cases, up 2; 10 deaths

Polk County: 281 cases, up 11; 9 deaths, up 1

Rhea County: 589 cases, up 6; 2 deaths

Sequatchie County: 128 cases, up 4; 1 death

For more information on COVID-19, call the Health Department’s hotline at 209-8383, or visit their website at Health.HamiltonTN.org.
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