Tennessee man didn’t spread coronavirus to ‘household contacts’
Several people who have had close contact with the Williamson County man who is the first case of the coronavirus in Tennessee have tested negative for the virus, state officials announced Friday morning.
President Donald Trump also briefly spoke about the coronavirus while touring Tennessee tornado damage on Friday.
The Tennessee Department of Health said Friday that “household contacts” for the first case of the coronavirus were tested Thursday and cleared. Two other unrelated people were also tested and determined to be negative for the virus, a news release stated.
Tennessee still has only one known case of the coronavirus. That case, revealed on Thursday morning, is a 44year-old Williamson County man who is currently quarantined at home with mild symptoms.
Health officials believe the man may have contracted the virus while traveling to Boston in late February. State Sen. Jack Johnson, R-franklin, has said he believed the man attended a conference while traveling out of state.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, is the father of a student at Battle Ground Academy, a private school in Franklin, but his child is asymptomatic and being kept out of classes as a precaution, according to a news release from the school. The school closed on Friday and is still assessing if it will reopen on Monday.
Expert: Coronavirus response was ‘by the book’
Heath officials have credited the infected man with taking key steps to prevent the spread of his own infections.
Officials said the man isolated himself when he got sick after returning from Boston, then alerted Williamson Medical Center, where staff in protective gear met him outside the hospital building to collect samples of phlegm and mucus for testing.
Ultimately, this caution could make a huge difference in preventing the spread of the virus, said Dr. William Schaffner, a renowned infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt.
“This one was by the book: by the patient, by Williamson Medical Center and by the health department,” Schaffner said. “It shows the containment strategy can work. It’s not going to be absolute — there will be other cases and there may be spread — but it can work.”
The coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a fastspreading virus that originated in Wuhan, China, but has since become a worldwide epidemic. As of Friday, the virus had infected about 95,000 people and killed nearly 3,300, according to the World Health Organization.
Medical experts, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have urged the public to take commonplace precautions similar to how they would prevent the spread of flu: Wash your hands, avoid touching your face as much as possible, and stay home if you feel sick.
Schaffner, who has said previously the spread of the coronavirus to Tennessee was all but inevitable, said he believed the first case in the state might trigger the public to finally plan for an outbreak.
He recommended a “calm discussion around the dinner table” about caring for the elderly and children, especially if schools close for an extended period of time.
Schaffner also recommends that those most vulnerable to the coronavirus — the elderly, immunosuppressed and anyone with diabetes or lung or heart disease — begin practicing “social distancing” now. People in this group should avoid crowds, travel, concerts, restaurants and movie theaters, he said.
“Think very seriously about minimizing, and nearly eliminating, your contact with groups of people,” Schaffner said. “If you are a religious person, perhaps you should be reverent at home instead of joining the congregation.”
Trump: Coronavirus ‘came out of nowhere’
The coronavirus bracketed Trump’s visit to Middle Tennessee on Friday.
The president signed an $8.3 billion funding bill to fight the coronavirus before flying to the Nashville area midmorning to tour tornado damage, then was scheduled to travel to the CDC in Atlanta to learn more about the virus.
“We’re doing very well,” Trump said as he signed the coronavirus spending bill, according to a White House pool report.
“But it’s an unforeseen problem. What a problem. Came out of nowhere, but we’re taking care of it.”
While touring storm damage in Cookeville, Trump was asked if he was considering deferring taxes for airlines and cruise ship companies in light of the economic impact of the coronavirus. The president said the idea was under consideration, then briefly praised new statistics showing the nation had gained more than 270,000 jobs in February.
“We’re looking at different options, different options,” Trump said. “We did get tremendous job numbers this morning … but right now that’s not something we want to be talking about.”
Brett Kelman is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 615-2598287 or at brett.kelman@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @brettkelman.