New COVID-19 patients, courthouse closure addressed in daily conference

April 1, 2020

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff,

JACKSON, Tenn. — Wednesday morning health officials reported four new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

County Mayor Jimmy Harris

“A 45-year-old male, a 66-year-old male, a 56-year-old female, and a 21-year-old female,” said Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department Director Kim Tedford.

All four patients have been told to self isolate.

We’ve been hearing a lot about if you should wear masks in your day to day lives. Health department officials say it’s not recommended.

“Those surgical masks, the pores in them, are large enough to allow the virus to come in,” Tedford said. “So, you’re not protecting yourself from letting that virus come inside.”

West Tennessee Healthcare has tested 464 patients for COVID-19 across all of their facilities, and the acts of kindness for health care workers haven’t gone unnoticed.

“I’ve seen so many examples of community support for our healthcare workers. And, I’ve been brought to tears several times over the past couple of weeks,” said West Tennessee Healthcare’s Amy Garner.

They are also not allowing any visitors in unless it’s an end of life situation or a single guest for pregnant mothers.

And Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris says even though the Madison County Courthouse is closed, you can do a lot of the things you would do there online. And a lot of the deadlines for those things have been extended.

“If your tag is out, you don’t have to renew it until June 15th. It’s been extended to that point. So there’s no rush,” Mayor Harris said.

Driver’s licenses will also now expire six months from the day they’re set to expire on the license.

Thursday, the city and county mayors have a planned meeting with grocery stores to hear about the protocols they have in place to protect shoppers.

Click here to visit the Tennessee County Clerk’s website.

For assistance with urgent issues in Madison County, citizens can call the numbers below: