The woman behind Tennessee providing COVID-19 patient data to first responders has been promoted.
Brandon O. Gibson, a senior advisor to Gov. Bill Lee, was promoted to the state’s chief operating officer (COO), the governor’s office announced Tuesday.
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The City of Knoxville said Tuesday it will opt-out of sharing the names and addresses of COVID-19 patients with law enforcement following a statewide controversy over the practice.
Mayor Indya Kincannon and Police Chief Eve Thomas said that the Knoxville Police Department will leave a state program that allows law-enforcement officers across Tennessee to access a database of persons who have tested positive for COVID-19.
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The Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators wants the state to quit giving names and addresses of COVID-19 patients to police.
The caucus made the request to Gov. Bill Lee and the Tennessee Department of Health, WATE reported, citing a press release from Democratic Caucus Chairman Ken Jobe. Lee sent letters to Tennessee police offering to provide personal information to their departments once they’ve entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the state.
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The Tennessee government is providing the names and addresses of COVID-19 patients to law enforcement agencies and other first responders, documents obtained by the Associated Press reveal.
According to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) obtained by the outlet, the Tennessee Department of Health is “disclosing” the information to the Tennessee Emergency Communications Board, which in turn passes the information along to first responders.
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Exactly 12,661 Tennesseans tested positive for COVID-19 as of Saturday, while the state’s death count for the virus reached 209, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
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Dentists in Tennessee may perform non-emergency services starting May 6, and one Nashville dentist says state officials have imposed clear guidelines for him and his staff to follow.
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Nearly 10,000 Tennesseans have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Sunday night, according to The COVID Tracking Project’s website.
Updated numbers showed 9,667 Tennesseans tested positive for COVID-19 since it broke out, while the virus had hospitalized 828 state residents. COVID-19 had claimed the lives of 181 Tennesseans as of Sunday, according to The COVID Tracking Project’s website.
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Tennessee had 7,070 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Sunday night, according to The COVID Tracking Project website. As of press time, the novel coronavirus pandemic took the lives of 148 Tennesseans. Meanwhile, hospital across the state have admitted 724 people who tested positive for the virus. Shelby County continued to tally the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Tennessee, with a total of 1,778 people. Davidson County still ranked second, at 1,638 cases, according to the Tennessee Department of Health’s website. TDH officials listed the updated numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases in other Tennessee counties as follows: • Sumner County: 509 • Williamson County: 348 • Rutherford County: 309 • Knox County: 194 • Wilson County: 181 • Montgomery County: 119 • Hamilton County: 116 • Robertson County: 113 • Putnam County: 95 • Madison County: 86 • Bedford County: 71 • Cumberland County: 57 • Tipton County: 56 • Blount County: 46 • Washington County: 46 • Dickson County: 45 • Fayette County: 45 • Sullivan County: 45 • Bradley County: 37 • Maury County: 34 • Macon County: 33 • Gibson County: 31 • Greene County: 30 • Dyer County: 28 • Marion County: 28 •…
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The Tennessee Department of Health said 633 residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19, but that figure is a cumulative – not current – number.
“This number indicates the number of patients that were ever hospitalized during their illness, it does not indicate the number of patients currently hospitalized,” the Department of Health notes in its daily COVID-19 briefing.
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As of Sunday night, more than 43,000 Tennessee residents tested negative for COVID-19, according to the Tennessee Department of Health’s website.
These numbers run in stark contrast to media accounts that focus only on how many people tested positive for the coronavirus.
Lab work for more than 7,500 people in Davidson County who got tested came back negative. More than 1,200 people tested negative in Hamilton County, while nearly 2,200 Knox County residents tested negative. Meanwhile, nearly 6,000 people tested negative for the coronavirus in Shelby County, according to the TDH’s website.
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Residents in seven of Tennessee’s 95 counties have apparently managed to steer clear of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, at least as of Saturday.
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The Tennessee Department of Health is now releasing the names and locations of nursing homes with positive cases of COVID-19.
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A model by Vanderbilt University Medical Center says social distancing has brought Tennessee close to — but not close enough to — the point at which COVID-19 is being contained.
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Tennessee hospitals admitted far more brand new COVID-19 cases Tuesday than they did Monday, according to updated numbers on The COVID Tracking Project’s website.
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Davidson County retook its status as having the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to new numbers that officials with the Tennessee Department of Health released on their website Friday.
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Gov. Bill Lee announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order requiring Tennesseans to stay home unless they are engaging in essential activities.
Lee issued an executive order Monday that urged, but didn’t require, residents to stay at home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Under his new order, staying at home isn’t “an option – it’s a requirement for the swift defeat of COVID-19,” said Lee.
The governor said data from the Tennessee Department of Transportation indicated that travel started trending upwards again on March 30 after traffic patterns showed a steep drop-off in vehicle movement between March 13 and 29.
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As of Sunday night, Shelby County had the highest number of COVID-19 cases in all of Tennessee, with 313 confirmed cases.
This, according to statistics that members of the Tennessee Department of Health released this weekend.
Overall, Tennessee had 1,537 COVID-19 cases, the TDH website reported.
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In an email and website campaign Thursday, Tennessee Right To Life called on Governor Bill Lee to halt elective abortions in Tennessee.
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Tennessee had more than 500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday night, according to the Tennessee Department of Health’s website.
Davidson County continued to have the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases by far at 179. But, as of Sunday night, Shelby County overtook Williamson County and ranked as having the second highest number of confirmed cases, according to TDH.
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Governor Bill Lee issued Executive Order No. 14 Thursday afternoon declaring a state of emergency in the state in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 for the purpose of facilitating the treatment and containment of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
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The Tennessee Department of Health has backed down from its secret government stance — by a little — and released the county-by-county location of the state’s seven confirmed coronavirus cases.
The TDH and Gov. Bill Lee for two days had refused to say which counties had coronavirus COVID-19 cases. Late Tuesday evening, TDH acknowledged intense public criticism when it issued this statement:
The Tennessee Department of Health has announced updated case management protocol regarding confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a continued effort to keep communities informed while also maintaining patient privacy.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper confirmed a case of coronavirus on Sunday, making it the third in Tennessee, coming the same day Shelby County announced a case.
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A passage on the Tennessee Department of Health’s website says THC products are linked to lung injury cases associated with e-cigarette use or vaping.
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The Tennessee Department of Health has confirmed the first 2019 case of measles in East Tennessee. The department said is investigating after the State Public Health Laboratory confirmed a positive test for the illness in a resident of East Tennessee. While the investigation is currently centered in East Tennessee, all Tennesseans should be aware of measles and its symptoms, the Health Department said. These symptoms may include fever, runny nose, body aches, watery eyes and white spots in the mouth. The illness is typically accompanied by a red, spotty rash that begins on the face and spreads over the body. Nearly one in three measles patients will develop ear infections, diarrhea or pneumonia. Measles can be fatal in about one to two out of every 1,000 cases. “Our efforts are focused on preventing the spread of illness to others,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Tim Jones. The measles virus is highly contagious and can stay airborne or live on surfaces for up to two hours. People recently infected with measles may not have any symptoms of illness, but can transmit the virus for about five days before the typical measles rash appears. “Most people in Tennessee are vaccinated against measles and…
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Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Monday they had arrested a registered nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and charged her with patient abuse and reckless homicide in December 2017. As The Tennessee Star reported last year, a Vanderbilt nurse administered a paralyzing anesthetic to a patient by mistake this same month. The patient later died. TBI Agents put out a press release Monday saying that they began investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Charlene Murphey, 75 at the time she died. “On December 26, 2017, Mrs. Murphey was a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Radonda Vaught was a registered nurse who was part of the team providing treatment,” according to the press release. “During the course of the investigation, Agents determined that the actions taken by Radonda Vaught were responsible for the abuse of Mrs. Murphey, and her ultimate death. Vaught is no longer an employee of Vanderbilt University Medical Center.” The Davidson County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Vaught, 35, with one count of impaired adult abuse and one count of reckless homicide. Vaught was arrested Monday and booked into the Davidson County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Medical malpractice A Nashville medical malpractice…
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There’s a reported nationwide outbreak of measles. Even though Tennessee is one of the affected areas, in fact, only one person in the Volunteer State got it, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. “These cases are not part of one outbreak,” said Bill Christian, department spokesman, in an emailed statement to The Tennessee Star. “Tennessee has reported only one case of measles so far this year, which occurred in a traveler this spring and did not lead to any additional cases.” Department officials legally cannot release specific information on this individual, he added. “This case was reported in Shelby County, and the traveler acquired measles from outside the United States,” Christian said. According to published reports, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that 107 people from 21 states have reported contracting the measles. Other states, according to published reports, are Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. “This number will likely outpace the number of measles cases reported in 2017,” according to ABC11.com out of North Carolina. “There were 118 cases in 2017, and only 86 the year before…
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Metro Nashville school nurses have not received formal training on how to spot potential cases of female genital mutilation despite state lawmakers drawing attention to FGM with legislation in 2012. The 2012 law requires health care providers to report injuries related to FGM, a brutal practice in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia that has been brought into the West through immigration. In the U.S., Tennessee is ranked 18th in state rankings for potential risk for women and girls, according to the Population Reference Bureau. The Tennessee Star has found that state and local agencies have not established clear guidelines and procedures for building awareness and documenting FGM cases to comply with the spirit and intent of the 2012 reporting law, which was passed to support state legislation in 1996 making FGM performed on a minor a felony. School nurses in Metro Nashville Public Schools are required to take an annual training course on reporting child abuse but it makes no mention of FGM. The Metro Nashville school district has refugee and immigrant students from Somalia and other parts of the world where FGM is practiced. “The annual course does not cover FGM specifically,” said Brian Todd, a spokesman for…
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