According to the Maryville Daily Times,
As of 3pm, July 18, 2020, Blount County, TN, has reported 509 cases of the coronavirus.
There have been 169 new cases reported in the past week.

As of 3pm, July 17, 10,191 people have been tested in Blount County.
Thus, 4.7% of people tested have tested positive for the coronavirus.
That is up from 3.8% last week.
1,288 people were tested for the coronavirus in the past 6 days.

Blount County's positive COVID-19 cases increase by nearly 50% in the past week, from 340 to 509.
Blount County’s positive COVID-19 cases tripled in 26 days between June 15 and July 11, rising from 106 cases to 340

There are approximately 133,000 people residing in Blount County, TN.
Thus, 7.7% of the people in Blount County have been tested for the coronavirus.

Six Blount County residents have died from the coronavirus.
Three deaths occurred in the early months of the pandemic.
Three deaths occurred in the past week (week of 7/12/2020)

According to the TN Dept. of Health, on 7/7/2020 for the first time Blount County broke the threshold for rate of new covid-19 cases per 100,000 Tennesseans.
Blount County continues to break this threshold, four times the week of July 12.
The ratios are getting higher, e.g. up to 54.10.
The Blount County ratios have been higher than Knox County a couple of days, a more populated county.
This threshold is used for decision making processes, e.g. long term care facilities in counties below the threshold for 14 consecutive days may consider allowing visitors. Sevier County has been above this threshold for 14 days.

Be careful out there.
Wear a mask!

According to the Maryville Daily Times,

As of 3pm, July 11, 2020, Blount County, TN, has reported 340 cases of the coronavirus.
8,903 people have been tested.
There have been 122 new cases reported in the past week.
Thus, 3.8% of people tested have tested positive for the coronavirus.
That is up from 2.7% last week.
1,277 people were tested for the coronavirus this week.

Blount County’s positive COVID-19 cases tripled in 26 days between June 15 and July 11, rising from 106 cases to 340

There are approximately 133,000 people residing in Blount County, TN.
Thus, 6.7% of the people in Blount County have been tested for the coronavirus.

Three Blount County residents have died from the coronavirus.
The three deaths occurred in the early months of the pandemic.

According to the TN Dept. of Health, on 7/7/2020 for the first time Blount County broke the threshold for rate of new covid-19 cases per 100,000 Tennesseans.
Blount County continues to break this threshold, three times the week of July 7.
The ratios are getting higher, e.g. 25.46 vs 26.23.
The Blount County ratios are higher than Knox County, a more populated county.
This threshold is used for decision making processes, e.g. long term care facilities in counties below the threshold for 14 consecutive days may consider allowing visitors. Sevier County has been above this threshold for 14 days.

Be careful out there.
Wear a mask!

According to the Maryville Daily Times,

As of 3pm, July 4, 2020, Blount County, TN, has reported 218 cases of the coronavirus.
7,626 people have been tested.
Thus, 2.9% of people tested have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Blount County’s positive COVID-19 cases nearly doubled in 17 days between June 15 and July 2, rising from 106 cases to 205
On July 1, Blount had 15 more cases than on June 30.
On July 2, Blount had 17 new cases.

There are approximately 133,000 people residing in Blount County, TN.
Thus, 5.7% of the people in Blount County have been tested for the coronavirus.

Three Blount County residents have died from the coronavirus.
The three deaths occurred in the early months of the pandemic.

From the Maryville Daily Times:

A Maryville third grader tested positive for COVID-19 after a Monday, June 22, trip to Springbrook Pool with the Foothills Elementary School Adventure Club.

The student passed a Monday morning temperature check at the extended care program but was sent home when the midday check registered more than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Maryville City Schools Director Mike Winstead.
...
“We did what our management plan and the Health Department says we should do,” Winstead said. The Health Department will be responsible for other contact tracing.
...
“When school reopens and we have 5,000 kids and 900 employees and all the interactions going on, having a positive case is inevitable,” Winstead said. “The key is just controlling interactions and minimizing the impact of a positive case.”

About a dozen other Adventure Club attendees will have to submit to a 14 day quarantine.

From TN Gov. Lee,
The CDC advises that "the best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus," and the best way to avoid being exposed to the virus is to remain home except as necessary to engage in essential activities

All Tennesseans must do their part by staying at home whenever possible for a limited period of time to avoid exposure to, and slow the spread of, this virus, which will limit the burden on health care resources and allow normal activities to resume sooner

From the Daily Times, "The number of COVID-19 cases in Blount County has reached double digits, the Tennessee Department of Health reported Monday."

We need to step it up a bit.

Avoid crowds. This includes going to Lowes, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, Target, etc. If you need to go, if it is essential, then try to go when there are less people, e.g. early in the morning and not on a weekend.

Stay 6-10 feet away from other people. This means anyone except for those who live in your household even if they are close friends, other family members, church members, etc.

Don't touch your face while out and about. Wash your hands frequently while out and about using wipes, hand sanitizer, alcohol.

Please protect yourselves, your family, your neighbors, the cashiers and workers at stores.

The City of Alcoa Public Works & Engineering Department in conjunction with Waste Connections of Tennessee are working hard to continue to provide uninterrupted service as we navigate the COVID-19 impacts.

In order to minimize risks to our employees and customers we are only accepting garbage that is bagged and completely in the cart as well recycling that is only in the cart.

Please remember trash must be bagged for safety and placed in cart only; however, recycling may be placed loose in cart.

In light of the positive COVID-19 case for Blount County today, it is more important than ever for our citizens to continue to cooperate with all CDC recommendations. We want to come together as a community to ensure the health and safety of all of our citizens.

All households, all businesses and individuals alike need to take the recommended precautions and self-isolate, alter business processes where possible, and limit-in-person contact.

With increased testing taking place, we will see increased positive test results. The effort to slow the spread of this pandemic depends on each of us doing our part.

Blount Intergovernmental Joint Information about COVID-19

The governments of Blount County, the cities of Maryville, Alcoa, Friendsville and Townsend, and the towns of Rockford and Louisville are monitoring the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak and are coordinating our efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus in our community. Public facilities including parks and recreation, schools, library, and government buildings are included in the mitigation protocol.?

COVID-19 Blount Intergovernmental Information
Public Information Related to Community Planning & Response to COVID-19

The governments of Blount County have compiled some important contact information on this joint information page. We will continue to provide important links to the agencies with the latest information.