The Chattanooga area is experiencing another spike in COVID-19 cases and the City of Chattanooga is taking additional steps to reduce person-to-person contact in order to protect residents and employees.
The City of Chattanooga will be suspending public access to City Hall, City Annex, and the city services at the Development Resource Center (DRC) beginning Monday, Nov. 9, 2020.
Additionally, all branches of the Public Library will be closed to the public, but will continue to operate its curbside service.
At this time, there are no plans to suspend public access to outdoor City facilities such as baseball/softball fields and parks.
Mayor Andy Berke and the City’s Operations staff understands that shutting down certain city facilities has consequences for City staff and the general public.
"The safety of our workforce and Chattanoogans is our top priority. That’s why we closely monitor public health data including the Harvard Global Health Initiative risk level framework for new cases per 100,000 people, trends in hospitalizations and fatalities, percentage of new cases that are epi-linked, and the ways in which the virus is currently spreading in our community as described by the Hamilton County Health Department. And because COVID-19 knows no borders, we also consider policy interventions like mask mandates and other policies by local and regional decision makers that may have a positive effect on health and safety. We track these metrics for a period of at least 7-14 days to ensure we are monitoring trends and our actions are not driven by day to day fluctuating data."
Hamilton County has seen more than 13,000 COVID positive cases in our community and City employees have not been immune. However, with the exception of cases within City Court and the Wood Recycling Center positive COVID cases among City employees have been deemed to pose no risk to the public by the Hamilton County Health Department’s epidemiologists.
City Departments will continue to provide all services, including police, fire, and solid waste removal, but an unforeseen outbreak or additional positivity among city employees could cause a disruption in service.
The City Court and Clerk’s Office will remain open under the State of Tennessee Supreme Court’s order that allowed for in-person proceedings to resume. However, Citations can still be paid online at municipalonlinepayments.com.
Hamilton County Government will maintain its in-person services at the DRC for the time being.
During this time, residents are encouraged to conduct business online and through phone conversations. A complete list of City services can be found a cha.city/cityclosures or residents can call 311 for help at (423) 643-6311.
Like this story? Click here to Subscribe to more like this delivered weekly to your inbox!