The Knox County Health Department is monitoring several potential cases of coronavirus in Knox County. Some of those cases are awaiting test results while other cases are self-isolating at home to monitor for symptoms.

The news came hours after Gov. Bill Lee announced that the first case of coronavirus had been detected in Tennessee, when the Knox County Health Department held a briefing Thursday to update the public about the status of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, in Knox County.

The department did not clarify how many cases were awaiting test results.

“It’s not surprising that we have a case in Tennessee, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we had cases in every state in the nation eventually,” said Dr. Martha Buchanan, director of the KCHD.

The infected Tennessee man is a 44-year-old who resides in Williamson County in Middle Tennessee, and he recently traveled on a nonstop flight to Boston from Nashville.

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Several of the Knox County cases are being evaluated to see if they qualify for testing.

The Knox County Health Department stressed that the risk of transmission was still very low in Tennessee.

“They have to have a risk factor and they have to have symptoms.” Dr. Buchanan said.

A risk factor means travel to a country where person-to-person transmission is actively occurring, like Italy, South Korea, Iran or China, or direct exposure to someone with COVID-19.

“We do have people self-isolating because they have traveled,” she said

Dr. Buchanan confirmed that the health department is in touch with people who were quarantining themselves at home after travel. These people have been asked to call the health department if an illness develops.

“We have folks coming back from Hubei province (in China) who talk to us regularly and take their temperatures a couple times a day,” she said. “We are talking to them and testing them if it’s appropriate.”

Health departments across the state are being careful with who they test for COVID-19. Test kits are limited, and the only lab that can perform preliminary tests in the state is the Tennessee Department of Health’s state lab in Nashville. If those tests come back positive, health department officials refer them to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for confirmation.

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“Right now, we have a limited supply and we have to use those wisely on the most at-risk folks.” Dr. Buchanan said.

The Knox County Health Department stressed that they were in regular communication with local hospitals, universities and nursing homes to help develop plans and procedures to help contain the spread of COVID-19.

For the public, the advice was a little more general. Wash your hands for 20-30 seconds in soap and water regularly. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available. Avoid non-alcohol-based hand sanitizers because they do not work. Cover your mouth when you cough. And if you feel sick, stay home.

“This has nothing to do with coronavirus, but if you’re sick, it’s not the time to go visit grandma in the nursing home, “said Dr. Buchanan.

“Grandma is more vulnerable to whatever you have," she added.