White House Report: Tennessee a Coronavirus “Red Zone”

An unpublished White House document indicates that public health experts consider 18 states (including Tennessee) as currently in a Coronavirus “red zone” according to a report from the Center for Public Integrity.

The report comes even as Gov. Bill Lee refuses to issue a statewide mask mandate and insists the state will remain open. Lee has also said he expects high school football this season.

Here’s more from the Center for Public Integrity:

A document prepared for the White House Coronavirus Task Force but not publicized suggests more than a dozen states should revert to more stringent protective measures, limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, closing bars and gyms and asking residents to wear masks at all times.

The document, dated July 14 and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, says 18 states are in the “red zone” for COVID-19 cases, meaning they had more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. Eleven states are in the “red zone” for test positivity, meaning more than 10 percent of diagnostic test results came back positive.

 https://publicintegrity.org/health/coronavirus-and-inequality/exclusive-white-house-document-shows-18-states-in-coronavirus-red-zone-covid-19/

On the Importance of Contact Tracing

A note from the newsletter Pro-Public offered by In the Public Interest. 


Get this: Vietnam, a country of 97 million people, has reported zero deaths from only 372 cases of coronavirus.

Theories abound about how they pulled it off. But public health experts chalk it up to swift action by the Vietnamese government, including contact tracing, mass testing, lockdowns, and compulsory wearing of masks.

Here, masks have become a political landmine. And despite President Trump claiming, “We have the greatest testing program anywhere in the world,” some states with surging infections have testing shortages—like Arizona.

But what about contact tracing, the process of calling potentially exposed people and persuading them to quarantine?


“I don’t think we’re doing very well,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, when asked in June about contact tracing nationwide. Most states haven’t even made public how fast or well they’re implementing the process, if at all.

Florida, the nation’s current No. 1 hotspot for the virus, is often failing to trace positive cases. This, despite the state spending over $27 million on a contract with Maximus, a company notorious for underbidding, understaffing, and performing poorly on government services contracts in multiple states.

Yet, there are bright spots elsewhere. California allocated 5 percent of staff across 90 state government departments to contact trace. North Carolina’s Wake County trained 110 librarians. In Massachusetts, counties have used state pandemic funds to hire more nurses.

There are three reasons why state and local governments should reassign public employees or hire new staff outright as the country—finally—ramps up contact tracing

One, outsourcing what should be a public job to for-profit companies like Maximus reduces transparency, limits democratic decision-making, lowers service quality, and increases inequality, all while rarely saving public dollars. Public control is particularly important when it comes to contact tracing, which involves personal health data.

Two, this is a chance to begin to reverse decades of cuts to public health budgets, which have made the worst public health crisis in a century even worse. Almost a quarter of the local public health workforce has been let go since 2008. Federal spending on nondefense discretionary programs like public health is now at a historic low.

The Trump administration, as expected, is headed in the wrong direction. On Tuesday, it stripped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of control over coronavirus data. State and local governments must do all they can to right the ship

And three, contact tracing is an opportunity to chip away at systemic racism. Since World War II, public sector employment has helped equalize American society by offering workers of color stable, well-paid employment. The median wage earned by Black employees is significantly higher in the public sector than in private industries.

Privatizing public work like contact tracing contributes to racial and gender income disparities. Workers at federal call centers operated by Maximus, for example, are predominately women and people of color paid poverty wages as low as $10.80 an hour with unaffordable health care.

If #BlackLivesMatter—as many governors and mayors across the country have proclaimed in recent weeks—then contact tracing should be treated as what it is: a public good.

To catch up to other countries like Vietnam, the U.S. needs to get contact tracing right—and that means doing it with public workers

The Plan for Schools

Tonight, the Sumner County School Board heard and discussed the district’s plan for reopening schools in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a tiered plan based on current infection rates. As of now, the recommendation is that schools reopen on a hybrid basis. This means students with last names from A-K would attend school on Monday and Thursday. Those with last names from L-Z would attend on Tuesday and Friday. The other days would be via online platforms.

Here’s the full plan:

https://www.sumnerschools.org/index.php/path-to-re-entry?fbclid=IwAR2XKNd4JT21eSqc1Nxtr3WisyJJ6RWNXgBW8XgPAjh_tsQpuaISt-SCa-Q

School Board to Present Re-Opening Plan

The Sumner County School Board tonight will hear a plan for re-opening schools amid the COVID19  pandemic. District leaders are expected to answer questions from parents and teachers submitted to them by local public school advocacy group Strong Schools.

The meeting begins at 6PM and can be viewed online via this link:



https://go.boarddocs.com/tn/scstn/Board.nsf/Public#tab-meetings

Surge

Cases of COVID-19 are surging in middle Tennessee, including the highest single day increase in Nashville since the pandemic began. Here’s more from NewsChannel5:

Metro health officials reported 771 new cases Tuesday, marking the highest single-day increase since the pandemic began. The previous record high was set just last week.

 https://www.newschannel5.com/news/nashville-mayor-john-cooper-metro-health-officials-to-give-covid-19-update-july-14

Lee Calls for Removal of Bust of Klan Leader from Capitol

Gov. Bill Lee today called on the Tennessee Capitol Commission to remove the bust of KKK leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from the State Capitol and place it in the state museum.

WPLN has more:

Gov. Bill Lee said on Wednesday afternoon that the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the state Capitol should be moved to the Tennessee State Museum.

“Forrest represents pain and suffering and brutal crimes committed against African Americans,” Lee told reporters. “That pain is very real for many Tennesseans.”

The governor’s remarks come a day before the State Capitol Commission is to meet to vote on whether the monument should be removed from the building.

Forrest was a Confederate general and believed to be the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. His bust was dedicated in 1978 and was championed by then-state Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville.

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Sumner's Mask Mandate

Sumner County Executive Anthony Holt has issued a mandate requiring the wearing of masks in public in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. NewsChannel5 has more:

Sumner County Mayor Anthony Holt issued an executive order requiring residents to wear face masks while in public.

The county-wide order will take effect on Tuesday, July 7.

"We are currently experiencing a public health emergency we need everyone's help to slow the rising trend of this deadly virus," Mayor Holt said.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee issued an executive order granting county mayors the authority to issue local requirements.

"Pandemic fatigue is real...but now is the time to take proactive measures to focus on the health of our family friends and neighbors," Holt added.

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For more on news impacting Hendersonville and Sumner County, follow @HvilleNews