CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — When Marlene José, 20, lost her mom to the coronavirus weeks after she lost her 1-year-old brother to the disease, she said, she felt like she was"split in half."
This city, like so many others in the South, has the makings of a virus hot spot: It reopened quickly, there is little regard for masks and distancing, which studies show help mitigate the disease, and contact tracers have begun to lose threads on possible infections. Meanwhile, bars, restaurants, gyms, beauty parlors, pools and many other businesses have remained open despite a precipitous increase in coronavirus infections.
"It's been a very delicate balance between the health and welfare of our people and their economic health, as well," said Rae Bond, the executive director of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society, who is leading the local COVID-19 task force."I don't think any community wants to have to close the doors again and to go back to the full shutdown we had before. But at the same time, as the cases continue to expand, it becomes challenging.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke, a Democrat, had long wanted a mask mandate and a slower reopening for his city, but he lost oversight of Chattanooga's COVID-19 response at the end of April when Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ended the state's stay-at-home order and sent residents back to work. Lee's executive order further vested Berke's power to respond to the pandemic in the county Health Department and Coppinger, who declined to comment.
Without a bailout from the federal government for state and local governments, which is unlikely to be approved by Congress, the city's economy may not be able to survive another shutdown.
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