April 18, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County’s number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has held steady at 10 since Monday. As of Sunday, April 19, the Tennessee Department of Health reported that 344 people had been tested with 334 negative results and 10 positive. There have been no deaths in DeKalb County from the virus and 7 of the 10 persons tested positive have recovered.
The DeKalb County Health Department will resume its COVID-19 drive through assessments Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the health department at 254 Tiger Drive.
Anyone, with or without COVID-19 symptoms who has concerns, is invited to receive testing for COVID-19. This testing will be provided at no cost to participants, and those who come for testing can remain in their vehicles throughout the process of collecting their samples.
Nurses and/or National Guard medics will collect nasal swabs from those who want to be tested, and test results may be available within 72 hours after the samples arrive at the lab, depending on lab volume.
“I encourage you to take advantage of these drive through assessments at the health department and to continue to do what you can to prevent the spread of the coronavirus by keeping your hands clean and practicing social distancing. Stay at home and keep an eye on our elderly. They need to be staying at home as much as possible and we need to support them and keep them safe,” said County Mayor Tim Stribling.
“We are working closely with the Tennessee Department of Health and all agencies of government at all levels to minimize the impact on the residents of DeKalb County. That has been and continues to be our primary concern. We will get through this together,” Stribling concluded.
Tennessee’s Coronavirus Public Information Lines are open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., CDT daily at 833-556-2476 or 877-857-2945. TDH is posting updated COVID-19 case numbers by 2 p.m. CDT each day at www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov.html. Find additional information at www.tn.gov/governor/covid-19.html and www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
Visit the Tennessee Department of Health online at www.tn.gov/health.
Connect with TDH on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn @TNDeptofHealth