NEWS FROM MY NECK OF THE WOODS: 32 active cases in Knox County, Health Director Buchanan supports ‘phased’ reopening of economy.
The Knox County Health Department reported two new cases Wednesday in its latest update on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
There are now 32 active cases in the county as of April 14, down from 35 on Tuesday. The total number of cases grew to 172.
The total number of recovered cases rose to 136. Recovered cases refer to those who have been released from isolation after seven days from their onset of symptoms, plus 72 hours of being symptom-free. Recovered does not mean necessarily the person had to be hospitalized.
Of the 172 cases, 21 have resulted in hospitalization at any point during the illness. This figure does not reflect the number of patients currently hospitalized in the county.
In Knox County, 4,422 total COVID-19 tests have now been conducted. . . .
Knox County Health Department Director Dr. Martha Buchanan said at Wednesday’s media briefing that she supports a phased reopening of the economy.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs unveiled his proposal for a strategic, phased reopening on Tuesday. Jacobs, along with the mayors of Davidson, Shelby and Hamilton counties, were asked to share their ideas for reopening with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.
“We all want to reopen the economy,” Buchanan said. “We will make that decision together.
“The plan is thoughtful. We are convening a local team to start local planning. Across our state, Nashville and Memphis look way different than the rest of us do. Planning to reopen in those areas is going to look very different.”
Buchanan said the key to knowing how and when to open the economy, as well as to what extent, will be “knowing the burden of the disease.” That includes seeing a decline on the curve of total and active cases.
“Knowing the burden of disease is going to be really important in helping us understand as we open do we need to back off or did we go too fast,” she said.
Finding that burden will require more health care providers to offer coronavirus testing, increased access to more specimen collectors and expansion of lab analysis capacity.
Regardless of when the reopening happens, Buchanan said practicing basic social distancing guidelines, like staying home when sick and washing your hands, will need to continue for some time.
Well, people should always stay home when sick and wash their hands. I will add that I don’t think Davidson or Shelby counties, which still have a lot of cases, are nearly as ready to start reopening as Knox County.