Daily COVID increase in Madison County down, hospital funding still an issue

JACKSON, Tenn. — Madison County saw its smallest increase in positive cases in a while Monday morning, with just 21 new cases.

But health officials say that could be because weekends are usually a little slower.

“It’ll be interesting to see how this week goes on our daily increases. To see if what we’ve seen this weekend holds,” said Kim Tedford, director of the Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department.

West Tennessee Healthcare has treated 11% of all COVID patients in Tennessee.

“My comments in raising awareness in those counties is out of concern,” said Amy Garner, chief compliance and communications officer for West Tennessee Healthcare. “We know when you have more cases it will lead to more hospitalizations and more deaths. And those are numbers I don’t want to see.”

Jackson-Madison County General Hospital is still at surge capacity, and funding is still an issue.

“We are seeing a lot of these patients,” Garner said. “They’re very very sick and they’re here for a long period of time. And, require a lot more resources.”

Now the FDA has approved a new test for COVID-19 — no more nasal swab. All they need now is some spit.

“From what I gather, it’s supposed to speed up getting those results back because you have that extraction process you don’t have to go through,” Tedford said.

And a reminder as to why we’re still practicing social distancing, wearing a mask and washing our hands.

“Why we’ve done everything we’ve done since March has been about flattening the curve, because we all share the same healthcare system,” said Jackson Mayor Scott Conger.

There will be another free mask giveaway this week, from 5 to 7 p.m. at East Jackson Church of Christ.