NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Thursday that his administration is in contact with Hamilton County officials and now plans to boost testing as a result of a dramatic rise in local positive COVID-19 cases that has ranked Chattanooga among the nation’s top four areas for fast-growing caseloads.
“We have a very strong plan in this state to address outbreaks where they occur, and we’ve been in conversation with officials there,” Lee told reporters during a video conference call. “We will be expanding testing there. We will be looking at the outbreaks and understanding why they’re happening and where they’re happening and address those.”
His comments came after The New York Times reported that Chattanooga’s daily rate of growth in new coronavirus cases is No. 4 nationally, doubling about every 10 days. The No. 1 region on the Times’s list is Fayetteville, Arkansas, followed by Hanford, California, and Yuma, Arizona.
Lee in the past month has acted to remove his prior executive orders that put a damper on social and economic activities, allowing restaurants, barber shops and athletic events to resume although the Republican governor continues to emphasize people should maintain social distancing measures.
While the governor’s decisions don’t control Hamilton County because the county operates its own health department – Lee’s orders affect only counties with state-run health departments – Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger has gone along with each of Lee’s decisions to reopen businesses and other areas.
COVID-19 “exists in our society and there are going to be cases until there’s a vaccine,” the governor said. “And we’ll address those cases as they come out.”
As for the rise, Lee said in his view “the most important statistic is to watch our ability to deal with those cases, particuarly our hospital capacity, and our health care capacity, our personal protective equipment capacity. All of those things are in a strong position in our state. So we feel confident we can address outbreaks wherever they happen.”
Earlier this week, Hamilton County Health Department Administrator Becky Barnes attributed many of the new cases to increased spread and testing, with the county screening more than 14,000 people.
“These increased numbers reflect both an increase in testing and, clearly, in spread,” Barnes said at a press conference late Tuesday.
With a mean age of just 32, Barnes says the cases are also linked to essential workers who have been at work all along, more so than people whose employers have recently reopened for business as restrictions ease.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.