COVID-19 Virus and Economic Trends in Hamilton County

HAMILTON, COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF)- The Hamilton County Health department is reporting 83 new cases of Covid-19 cases Tuesday.

90 probable cases are included as well, meaning someone is showing symptoms, has virus detected in their body, or has come in close contact with a positive case.

With many schools back in session, an increase in positive tests for 11 through 20 year old are trending.

“There’s some concern that with more younger people contracting the virus, we’ve got some concern they can share that with their parents and grandparents who may be in more at risk groups” says Rae Bond of the Covid-19 Task Force.

Bond says there is also a downward trend in hospitalizations momentarily, “Including a slight decrease in cases that are coming to us from North Georgia.”

On another positive note, Chattanooga’s risk level moved from the red zone to orange.

This gives the city the option to gradually open low risk facilities but it also means 10 to 24 people a day are contracting the virus.

Covid-19 continues to take it’s toll on the economic status in Chattanooga, impacting local businesses. The owners of Charlie’s BBQ and Bakery says the restaurant industry will never be the same again.”

“I’ve never had such a hard time finding employees” said CO-Owner Wes Agee.

Wes Agee and Elizabeth St. Clair even had to include signing bonuses to attract a new staff.

Although their sales have reached new heights, the cost of managing their business has almost tripled.

“Our prices of meats, our prices of foods, our prices of paper products in particular have gone up by 90 percent” said St. Clair.

While Agee and St. Clair believe over half of the Chattanooga restaurant scene will go out of business, the city government is still waiting for a comfortable decrease before they open their doors.

In addition, the state of Tennessee is issuing a new quarantine protocol for household contacts of a positive person.

Below are links to both the new quarantine guidance by Tennessee’s health department and Covid-19 data plus updates in Chattanooga.

Tennessee Health Department guidance: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/Isolation-QuarantineRelease.pdf

Chattanooga Covid-19 data and updates: https://connect.chattanooga.gov/covid-19-data/