The Shelby County Health Department says they have exhaustively traced individuals who came in contact with the sole person who has so far tested positive for coronavirus in Shelby County.
About 80 people are currently under some sort of quarantine or self-monitoring in the county. This number includes individuals who have returned from travel abroad and are self-monitoring.
While there is still just one case locally, there are eight others statewide.
At a now-weekly press conference Wednesday, Health Department director Alisa Haushalter said she didn’t know the total number of people who have been tested for COVID-19 in the county.
The reason, Haushalter explained, is that the tests are no longer going through one central location and are also sent to commercial labs.
“There’s testing available today for people who need testing,” Haushalter said. “A person just can’t show up because they want to be tested and get tested. There’s key criteria that have been established by the Centers for Disease Control to be able to rule out other illnesses.”
The Health Department cleared a Shelby County Schools employee at Treadwell Elementary and Middle School to return to work Tuesday. The employee was under a 14-day quarantine after coming in contact with the individual who tested positive for the virus.
Shelby County Sschools Superintendent Joris Ray called the experience “traumatizing” for the employee.
Should schools need to close, Ray said he still wants to see students fed. Many children rely on school-provided breakfast and lunches.
“Right now, we are in the planning phases,” Ray said. “I’m hopeful that working with our Central Nutrition Center [we can] devise a plan to ensure our students can eat."
The county, for now, remains in a "containment" phase. There has been no community transmission of the virus, meaning all cases are still able to be linked to travel or a specific COVID-19 case.
But, Haushalter acknowledged that due to the limited nature of testing so far, that could change.
“What we anticipate as more testing is available, that we will get more positive tests and will have to make decisions based on the result of those,” Haushalter said.
For the time being, the Health Department is encouraging people to stay home if they feel sick and for employers to have plans in place to accommodate these workers.