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Mayor Young comments on recent White House Coronavirus Task Force report
BRANDON HUTCHESON
When the White House Coronavirus Task Force released their most recent report for the state of Tennessee on September 27, it listed the state 16th of 50 for COVID-19 cases. Additionally, the report stated 78 percent of all Tennessee counties have moderate or high levels of community transmission. Using numbers from the prior reporting week, Sept. 19-25, the task force has Dyer County listed 6th in the top 12 in the orange zone, one step below the highest level – red. Orange zone communities and counties, according to the White House Coronavirus Task Force, reported new COVID-19 cases between 51-100 per 100,000 population, and a lab-test positivity result between 8.0-10.0 percent, or one of those two conditions and one condition qualifying as being in the red zone.
Those listed in the orange zones, according to the report, have numbers that reflect the following:
• New cases per 100,000 population per week: 51-100
• Percent change in new cases per 100,000 population: 1-10 percent
• Diagnostic test result positivity rate: 8-10 percent
• Change in test positivity: 0.1-0.5 percent
• Total diagnostic tests resulted per 100,000 population per week: 500-749
• Percent change in tests per 100,000 population: -10-0 percent
• COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 population per week: 1.1-2 p
• Percent change in deaths per 100,000 population: 1-10 percent
• Skilled nursing facilities (SNF) with at least one resident COVID-19 case, death: 1-5 percent
• Change in SNFs with at least one resident COVID-19 case, death: -1-1 percent
According to numbers from the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH), from September 16 to September 29, Dyer County’s total number of COVID-19 cases, which includes confirmed and probable cases, increased by 259 – just over 18 percent of the total cases, thus far, reported in the county. TDH updates numbers at 2 p.m. daily at https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov.html.
“I am concerned about the recent uptick in the number of cases in Dyer County. We’re still in trouble,” stated Dyer County Mayor Chris Young. “We are still in the middle of this. We need to be taking every precaution that we can to try to stop the spread of COVID-19. It is so unfortunate that some people have to have it hit close to home before they realize the seriousness of this virus.
In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in Dyer County, Mayor Young initiated a mask requirement within the county beginning on July 20, 2020 following an authorization from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to do so in 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties. Young extended the mandate twice, on August 3 and 28, respectively, once Gov. Lee extended his authorization. However, last Friday, Sept. 25, Mayor Young opted not to extend the mask mandate, though the governor allowed county mayors to do so for an additional 30 days. Dyer County’s mask mandate officially ended at 11:59 p.m. this past Monday, Sept. 28.
Though Mayor Young did not extend the mask mandate, he has continued to encourage citizens to wear masks when social distancing is not an option. Young noted he has not completely ruled out reinstituting a mandate on masks, as long as the governor allows, in the future.
“Masks work. I’ll keep watching the data. It is always a possibility [to reinstate the mask mandate]. The governor extended our authority for another 30 days. There’s always a possibility, but I’m hoping that people realize that wearing masks is the main resource we have to fight COVID-19.”