The Hamilton County Health Department wishes to alert the public to the continued rise in positive COVID cases in our community. Over the past week, Hamilton County averaged 135 new COVID cases per day and is currently classified as having a “high” community transmission level, according to the CDC. 

When a county has a high level of transmission, it is recommended that individuals wear masks while indoors in public places, regardless of vaccination status. To protect others, it is extremely important that if you experience or exhibit any symptoms to be tested quickly. Masking continues to be an important tool in slowing the spread of COVID. Masks help slow the spread of illness by reducing the number of virus droplets that may come from someone by sneezing, coughing, singing, talking, or breathing. It is especially important to wear masks because ill individuals may not show symptoms (asymptomatic). Masks also help by reducing the inhalation or breathing in of these droplets by the person wearing the mask; therefore, the overall benefit of wearing masks comes from the combination of reducing the droplets that are spread and protection from breathing them in.

Additional COVID precautions are needed for people at high risk of severe illness, during this time of high community transmission. Because masks have been proven to reduce the spread of COVID, it is of utmost importance to wear masks around friends and loved ones who may be at high risk of severe illness or death from COVID infection. To learn if you or someone you know is considered “high-risk,” please click here. As always, it is important to follow the CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including getting tested if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19.

The Health Department continues to offer free, take-home COVID test kits at all of our facilities. To see where the Health Department is giving away free test kits, visit us at testing.hamiltontn.gov.

Additional Information & Resources

• Masks must be worn inside all Hamilton County Health Department facilities.
• Call the Health Department’s COVID-19 hotline at 423-209-8383 if you have questions about vaccinations, testing locations, or if you need isolation or quarantine guidance.

To read this information in Spanish, visit the Health Department’s Spanish Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SaludHamiltonTN