The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) released a statement, Sunday, March 8 saying that two additional cases of COVID-19 or the Coronavirus have been confirmed in Davidson County and Shelby County, bringing the state’s total number of confirmed cases to three.
As of March 9, there were 423 total confirmed or presumed cases across 35 states in the United States with 29 fatalities.
Of the 423 cases, 72 are travel related, 29 have been person to person spread and the other 322 are still under investigation.
According to the TDH, on March 10 the case count for Tennessee increased to six.
“TDH is working closely with local health officials in Davidson and Shelby counties to support the ongoing investigations of COVID-19 cases and we have full confidence in the ability of local jurisdictions to take swift action and mitigate risks,” said TDH Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD,
MBA, FAAP. “The overall risk to the public remains low as COVID-19 is not currently widespread in Tennessee or the United States.”
A case update states that the TDH State Public Health Laboratory has now been authorized to run COVID-19 testing seven days a week to assist public health authorities and health care workers in identifying cases and treating individuals.
The Tennessee Department of Health oversees 89 county health departments and serves as a partner to the six major metropolitan jurisdictions including: Shelby, Madison, Davidson, Knox, Hamilton and Sullivan counties.
Recommended precautions are simply to take routine precautions used in guarding against respiratory viruses.
Wash your hands often with soap and water. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. Stay home if you are sick. Stay away from people who are sick.
Most patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection have mild respiratory illness with fever, cough and shortness of breath. A smaller number of patients have severe symptoms requiring hospitalization.
Alamo City School, Bells Elementary School and the Crockett County School System are all taking precautions to protect the children in their schools.
Along with each school providing parents with information on the virus, they also confirmed that their schools take precautionary measures daily in the health and safety of their students and will continue to do so.
Alamo City School explained in their letter to parents that their building is cleaned and sanitized daily. Students wash their hands with soap and water often and/or use sanitizer with over 60 percent alcohol. Anyone in their school with a temperature of 99 or above is sent home immediately and cannot return until they are 24 hours fever free.
Bells Elementary School shared many of the same tips from the TDH and stated that these preventative measures are used daily at their school. Along with these precautionary measures, daily attendance is tracked and in cases where there is increased sickness, extra care is given to areas of the school that the entire student body utilizes. The buses used in all school systems are also taken care of to help prevent the spread of germs.
“It is always our goal to protect our students, employees and our community,” said Bells Elementary School Director of Schools Mark Wallace. “If there is any locally confirmed cases, our healthcare facilities will report it to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which will respond accordingly and give our district guidance as to how to move forward. Absolutely no one who is diagnosed with novel coronavirus will be allowed to return to work or school until cleared by health officials. In the event of a confirmed, local outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Bells City School will cooperate fully with the proper authorities and in collaboration with the CDC, communicate our emergency response plan to all stakeholders.”
The Crockett County School System also released the same information regarding ways to prevent the spread of germs and viruses and reiterated the protocol if a local case is confirmed.
“Regarding cleaning steps in our schools, our district staff tracks absenteeism daily at each school. If the percentage of staff and students at any location begins to spike, we work with our cleaning staff to provide extra sanitation efforts. That includes extra cleaning of high contact areas as well as other parts of the school,” said Director of Schools Phillip A. Pratt. “Also, our bus fleet is sanitized daily to help prevent the spread of germs. To this date, the sanitization protocol has allowed our schools to remain open during flu season when other local districts were closing due to high absenteeism.”
The Crockett County School System has also developed a complete response plan that answers many questions individuals may have about COVID-19 and how it differs from other Coronaviruses, CDC recommendations, school protocol and the process of responding in case of a pandemic.
View the school systems protocal plan here.
According to the CDC, high risk individuals include older adults, and people who have serious chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and lung disease.
Lifeline Blood Services shared information stating that it is important for healthy individuals to make and keep donation appointments and organized blood drives during this time to ensure the continued adequacy of the blood supply.
They stated that it is imperative that healthy individuals donate to minimize disruptions to the blood supply and ensure blood is available for patients. If the outbreak of coronavirus expands, additional challenges may arise, which could potentially reduce the number of eligible donors and disrupt collection events. Since it is the blood already on the shelves that saves lives, maintaining a sufficient blood supply is essential to ensure patients in need receive optimal treatment.
TDH has also launched a Tennessee Coronavirus Public Information Line in partnership with the
Tennessee Poison Center. The number is 877-857-2945 and is available daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. central time.
People with concerns about their health are advised to contact their health care providers.
