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Alexander in self-quarantine after staff member tests positive for COVID-19

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Lamar Alexander
Lamar Alexander

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, is in self-quarantine after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, the contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

The staff member, who has not been publicly identified, tested positive on Sunday, David Cleary, the senator’s chief of staff, said in a statement. The staff member is recovering at home and doing well, the statement said.

Alexander has no symptoms, and he tested negative for COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, Cleary said.

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Municipal Building, playgrounds remain closed; greenways, parks open

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The Oak Ridge Municipal Building is pictured above on Tuesday evening, May 5, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Municipal Building remains closed to the public but is moving to a public check-in area where visitors can be escorted to secured areas of the building, City Manager Mark Watson said in an update Tuesday.

Playgrounds and basketball courts remain closed. Disinfection options are being reviewed for limited open times, the update said.

The Oak Ridge Public Library will begin curbside delivery of library materials beginning in mid-May, the update said.

Oak Ridge City Court is working to resume in-person hearings on May 11 with COVID-19 precautions, the update said. COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly. It has caused a global pandemic.

The city manager’s update said there is planning for a phased re-opening of the Oak Ridge Senior Center.

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For members: CNS violated nuclear safety requirements at Y-12, NNSA says

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Y-12 Building 9212

A low-level aerial shot of Building 9212 at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 

A federal contractor violated nuclear safety requirements at the Y-12 National Security Complex, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.

The violations are associated with the accumulations of uranium-235 in a glovebox, furnace, and casting line in Building 9212 at Y-12. The equipment is used to recover and process uranium-235, a fissile material that can be used in nuclear weapons and reactors.

The buildup of enriched uranium, discovered after hydraulic lines leaked in a glovebox, exceeded limits established by a safety program meant to help prevent a nuclear chain reaction.

An investigation of the uranium accumulations found weaknesses in five areas, according to the NNSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Energy and overseas nuclear weapons work at sites like Y-12. Among the deficiencies were procedural compliances, evaluations of process changes, the analyses of causes, the establishment of roles and responsibilities, and the implementation of a program meant to prevent inadvertent accumulations.

“The National Nuclear Security Administration considers these deficiencies to be of high safety significance,” Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty wrote in an April 6 letter. “Although there were no actual consequences to the public, workers, or the environment, these deficiencies eroded the barriers preventing a nuclear criticality and could, if left uncorrected, adversely impact nuclear and worker safety at the Y-12 National Security Complex.”

The letter was sent to Morgan Smith, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security. CNS manages and operates Y-12, as well as the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, for the NNSA.

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Barber shops, hair salons, nail spas, massage businesses can open Wednesday

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Barber shops, hair salons, nail spas, massage therapy services, and similar businesses can re-open in 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties on Wednesday, May 6.

The potential re-openings in the 89 counties, which include Anderson and Roane, was announced by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee this week. It’s part of the phased re-opening of the economy. Much of Tennessee has been shut down for about a month or more as the state tries to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

There are certain guidelines that businesses are expected to follow as they re-open. The guidelines include limiting the number of customers in a business to 50 percent of its capacity, trying to keep people at least six feet apart as much as possible, wearing cloth face coverings, and requiring appointments for services.

The businesses allowed to re-open on Wednesday are called “close contact” businesses. Their re-opening follows the re-opening of restaurants on Monday, April 27; the re-opening of retail stores on Wednesday, April 29; and the re-opening of gymnasiums and exercise facilities on Friday, May 1.

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Most gyms can re-open Friday

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Gymnasiums and exercise facilities in 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties will be able to re-open on Friday, May 1.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced the possible re-openings on Tuesday.

The six counties that are excluded from the governor’s announcement are those with locally run health departments: Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Shelby, and Sullivan.

The Tennessee Economic Recovery Group has announced guidelines for how gyms and exercise facilities can re-open safely as the state continues to try to control the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

“Exercise is incredibly important for the physical and mental health of our population, and we want Tennesseans to have access to safe environments where they can exercise as appropriate,” Lee said in a press release. “These guidelines outline best practices in keeping with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and health experts for gyms to reopen in a way that will keep their employees and customers safe.”

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Restaurants, retailers can re-open in AC, Oak Ridge

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Restaurants were allowed to re-open under certain guidelines in 89 of the state’s 95 counties on Monday, and retail stores can re-open under similar guidelines on Wednesday.

The guidelines include operating at 50 percent capacity and maintaining social distance (generally keeping people at least six feet apart). The state recommends no live music, and restaurant bars should be kept closed. The state also recommends that employees in both industries wear cloth face coverings and that business owners follow federal guidelines for hygiene and workplace sanitation standards for COVID-19.

The 85 counties where restaurants and retail stores can re-open include Anderson and Roane counties.

Many businesses have been closed or operating under changed conditions as Tennessee, like other states and countries, tried to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

“Tennesseans pulled together to flatten the curve, and it is time for people to begin to get back to work and back to their businesses,” Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said. “We are pursuing a careful, measured approach to reopening our economy that does not depend on heavy-handed mandates but instead provides practical tools for businesses of all sizes.”

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Governor: 15 percent of state’s workforce files unemployment claims

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On Friday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said 15 percent of Tennessee’s workforce had filed unemployment claims as of last week.

More than 400,000 people are without a job, Lee said during a press conference announcing new guidelines for restaurants and retailers that could open in most of the state’s counties this week.

Lee said $870 million in revenue was lost in March alone across some of Tennessee’s largest industries such as hospitality.

With employers and employees struggling, there could a $5 billion decrease in the state’s gross domestic product for 2020, the governor said.

The service industry has been hit especially hard, he said.

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AC EMS responds to suspected COVID-19 cases, call volume drops

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Photo courtesy Anderson County EMS

As of Tuesday, Anderson County Emergency Medical Services had responded to more than 40 suspected COVID-19 calls since mid-March, Director Nathan Sweet said last week.

As of Tuesday, only one patient transported by Anderson County EMS had tested positive for COVID-19, Sweet said.

The suspected COVID-19 calls have come from across Anderson County: Oak Ridge, Norris, Clinton, Rocky Top, Marlow, Medford—”really just about anywhere in the county,” Sweet said.

The suspected COVID-19 calls are being screened by 911 emergency call centers in Anderson County, Clinton, and Oak Ridge to better prepare emergency responders before they arrive at the call site.

“If they meet any of the screening criteria, our crews are responding in appropriate personal protective equipment as a precaution for safety,” Sweet said.

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COVID-19 cases rise by more than 2,000 as testing increases

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Graph by Ken Mayes (used with permission)

Note: This story was last updated at 5:45 p.m.

The number of COVID-19 cases increased by more than 2,000 in Tennessee last week as testing increased by more than 40,000.

The total number of cases passed 7,000, then 8,000, then 9,000 last week. The case count increased by 30 percent in one week. The Tennessee Department of Health reported 9,189 cases on Saturday, up from 7,070 on April 19.

But testing was up even more, a roughly 45 percent increase. The number of tests rose from 97,098 on Sunday, April 19, to 141,406 on Saturday, April 25.

The daily growth rate in the number of new cases had dropped to a low of 2.2 percent on Tuesday, April 21, but it has since increased to more than 5 percent. The number of new cases reported each day had been down to 156, but it’s now over 400.

The increase in the number of tests included more than 11,000 tests reported by the state of Tennessee at free drive-through sites last weekend. It was the largest number of tests in the state over a two-day period, Tennessee Governor Bill said Monday. The testing has been expanded to include patients without traditional COVID-19 symptoms.

Expanding testing capacity is an important step to re-open the state’s economy, Lee said. The governor has announced that he will not extend a stay-at-home order past April 30, and restaurants are able to reopen Monday at 50 percent occupancy and retailers are able to reopen Wednesday at 50 percent occupancy.

The increase in the number of cases in Tennessee has included inmates at a state prison, the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville. The Tennessee Department of Correction reported that 576 inmates tested positive for COVID-19 after a large testing event last weekend, although most didn’t show symptoms, and more than 2,000 people have been tested, according to the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.

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Free drive-through COVID-19 testing in Oak Ridge on Sunday

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There will be free drive-through COVID-19 testing in Oak Ridge on Sunday.

The testing is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at the Oak Ridge campus of Roane State Community College. Participants can remain in their vehicles throughout the process.

The Anderson County Health Department and the Tennessee Department of Health are organizing the testing event, a press release said. Nurses and/or National Guard medics will collect nasal swabs from those who want to be tested. Test results may be available within 72 hours after the samples arrive at the lab, depending on lab volume.

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ORNL making molds to help produce COVID-19 test tubes

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An example of a 3D printer, the Cincinnati Machine, is pictured above at work in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley on Dec. 29, 2014. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy)

Engineers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are making metal molds that companies will use to manufacture plastic tubes for COVID-19 test kits.

The work has been cited in two federal coronavirus task force press conferences at the White House this week.

On Monday, Brad Smith, a federal health official, said the ORNL work could help supply more than 40 million collection tubes per month in the next several weeks. Smith grew up in Knoxville, and he has been a business leader and entrepreneur, and served in Tennessee state government. He is now deputy administrator and director of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The ORNL work was also cited by President Donald Trump on Sunday.

The ORNL engineers are using additive manufacturing to produce the metal molds for the COVID-19 test kits. Additive manufacturing is the process of making an object by printing it with a material layer by layer. Printers known as 3D printers— some large, some small—can be used.

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Gov. Lee says he will not extend stay-at-home order past April 30

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Bill Lee

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Monday said he will not extend the state’s stay-at-home order past April 30, and most businesses in 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties will be allowed to re-open on May 1.

“Our Economic Recovery Group is working with industry leaders around the clock so that some businesses can open as soon as Monday, April 27,” Lee said. “These businesses will open according to specific guidance that we will provide in accordance with state and national experts in both medicine and business.”

The governor said his administration will work with Shelby, Madison, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, and Sullivan counties and their health departments as they plan their own strategies for re-opening.

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