Nashville mayoral candidate Freddie O'Connell, other Metro Council members, have COVID-19
Nashville mayoral candidate Freddie O'Connell and at least seven other Metro Council members have contracted COVID-19, a spokesman for O'Connell confirmed Monday.
O'Connell is "feeling fine," said spokesman Alex Apple.
O'Connell is facing Alice Rolli in a runoff election, set for Sept. 14. A number of candidate forums had been scheduled, including ones on Tuesday and Thursday, though it's now unclear if O'Connell will be able to participate.
"We are working to find out the best way he can still participate in the forums, but we don't have anything decided for sure yet," Apple said. "We don’t believe this will affect the race. The pandemic taught us best practices for doing what we can remotely, and fortunately, Freddie’s case is very mild. The rest of the team is unaffected."
Some Metro councilmembers have said they may have contracted the illness during last week's council meeting. The identity of most of those who have tested positive was not immediately available on Monday.
But Councilmember-At-Large Bob Mendes posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that he was among those who have tested positive for COVID-19.
"I’m in that group who has COVID. I’ve heard of several non-CMs (councilmembers) who were at the Tuesday meeting and also have COVID now," his post said. "This is so on brand for 2019-2023 Metro Council term! I hope everyone recovers fully and quickly. Be careful out there everyone."
Mike Jameson, director of legislative affairs for Mayor John Cooper’s office, said that at least two other Metro staffers had contracted COVID-19. Jameson also confirmed that a total of eight council members had tested positive for the virus, but declined to identify them, citing medical privacy regulations.
Are COVID cases rising? Reports shows uptick in Tennessee hospitalizations
The Metro Public Health Department for Nashville and Davidson County cannot confirm that the council meeting was to blame for the seeming outbreak, said spokesman Matthew Peters. It also cannot provide a full accounting of all of those who may have been infected since the department ceased contract tracing after the end of the pandemic emergency, he said.
"COVID-19 spreads most easily indoors, especially in settings where people are close together for long periods of time," Peters said. "While we can’t say definitively that council chambers was the setting where the illness was contracted, it does fit the characteristics of a place suited for spread of the infection."
The Metro Health Department does not have any indication of a more widespread outbreak among city staffers at this point, Peters added.
COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have been on the upswing nationally and statewide in recent weeks.
According to the latest tracking data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-related hospitalization rates were up more than 14% in the first week of August. As of Aug. 12, U.S. COVID deaths were up more than 8%, the CDC reported.
As of Aug. 15, 239 hospitalized Tennesseans tested positive for COVID, according to the state Department of Health. That's the highest number since the spring and a 50% increase since just two weeks ago.
That said, case rates and hospitalizations remain far below previous COVID peaks. Tennessee public health officials have said this latest August increase in cases is more of a seasonal "uptick" than a surge seen in previous years. A survey of wastewater samples on Friday seems to support that analysis, Peters said.
Frank Gluck is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at fgluck@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FrankGluck.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Metro Council: Freddie O'Connell and others contract COVID-19
