State planning for Covid treatment at Chatt. Convention Center

NASHVILLE (WDEF) – Gov. Bill Lee this afternoon revealed details from their virus surge preparations.

The surge is expected to peak in the third week of April.

State officials have been working on a plan for weeks.

The plan includes building “COVID positive, non-acute alternative healthcare facility.”

They would treat virus patients transferred from local hospitals.

The Governor has picked the Chattanooga Convention Center for our region.

The Army Corps will build the facility.

That involves controlling airflow into the facility, piping for oxygen and creating beds and partitions.

They are building the first one now in Nashville and will expand across the state as needed.

Governor Lee says he will talk to local officials about the Chattanooga facility on Friday.

But he says they will also need the medical personnel to staff the facility.

So Gov. Lee is calling on “all displaced or furloughed healthcare personnel in our state and beyond to register on the Tennessee Department of Health website to work together with us to address the challenges that we have ahead.”

The other sites around the state are the Nashville Music Center, Memphis Gateway Shopping Center and the Knoxville Expo Center.