Thread by @AnnaCaudill4

Please share: @DrMannySenate & @BillHagertyTN had to take Covid-19 tests today after learning of exposure at a GOP event. In light of this, I’m sharing the data I’ve kept on the maskless wonder tours both candidates have conducted across TN & the surges that followed. 🧵

https://twitter.com/natalie_allison/status/1291121612633387008

1. Bear in mind that as #COVID19 reached TN, the Appalachian Regional Commission told Gov Lee that 13 TN counties ranked “Distressed”-the poorest 10% in the entire nation, & another 26 counties are “At-Risk”-slightly *above* the poorest 10%.
tn.gov/transparenttn/…

2. Also keep in mind that 21 TN counties have no hospital at all-the map in the link below shows 20, but that was before Decatur General closed this June.

sycamoreinstitutetn.org/tennessee-heal…

3. I’ll start w/ @DrMannySenate, a @VUMChealth practitioner. @AmerMedicalAssn outlined ethics guidance for healthcare pros during pandemic—stressing doctors’ duty to “promote public health” as part of “Physician Stewardship of Health Care Resources”.
ama-assn.org/delivering-car…

4. @DrMannySenate has crisscrossed TN with a maskless wonder tour. Since July 15, his events have been followed by a surge in cases, with at least 5 counties doubling their Covid cases in the 14 days after his campaign visits.

5. Cocke Co. held a @DrMannySenate event 7/15. They’re “Distressed”-among the poorest 10% of counties in all the US-& they have 1 hospital. From March-July 15, Cocke Co reported only 175 Covid cases. Within 2 weeks of Dr. Manny’s mask-free visit, that number jumped to 348.

6. Similarly-Johnson Co.-which ARC rates “At Risk” due to 1 in 4 folks living at or below poverty level, & which has only 1 hospital-saw a spike in the 2 weeks after @DrMannySenate came to town.
From March 1-July 16: 51 cases
By July 31: 116 cases

7. Hawkins Co, another county with only one hospital, doubled & then some after @DrMannySenate came to town.
March 1-July 16: 117 cases
July 31- *291* cases

Knox & Rutherford saw cases jump by more than 1,500 in the 14 days after Dr. Manny’s maskless wonder tour.

8. @BillHagertyTN managed to stun Williamson County residents last week when he showed up w/ @MarshaBlackburn, @TomCottonAR, @SenJohnson, & others for a maskless wonder rally that defied rule of law by flouting the County’s mask decree, a misdemeanor offense.

9. In 11 counties where @BillHagertyTN held maskless campaign events, covid numbers doubled in the 14 days after. In 4 counties, cases *tripled*.

It’s worth noting that any of those counties saw rates of increase far higher than the rest of TN.

10. For example, @BillHagertyTN held maskless events in Benton & Henderson July 1. Both are on ARC’s “At-Risk” list, just above the poorest 10% of the US.
In the 2 wks after Hagerty’s visit, Benton’s rate of covid increase was 200%, Henderson’s 226%.
The rest of TN? 52% ROI.

11. Cases nearly tripled in Moore after @BillHagertyTN visited-a county without a hospital. Their rate of increase was 3 times higher than the state’s average for other counties in the same 2 week period.

12. Other hospital-free counties that doubled or tripled Covid rates after @BillHagertyTN’s maskless wonder tour were Polk (7/18), McNairy (7/13), Chester (7/18), Union (7/7), & Fentress (7/15). 3 of those counties are on ARC’s economic “At-Risk” list.

13. Williamson has reported 600+ new Covid cases since @BillHagertyTN & @MarshaBlackburn joined @SenJohnson in flouting Mayor Anderson’s authority.
They risked their neighbors’ lives at the same time the President cancelled the GOP Convention & renewed C19 briefings.

14. I’ve tracked the campaigns of @DrMannySenate & @BillHagertyTN since July 1, & as I watch them leave Tennessee’s poorest rural communities w/ surging cases & knowingly defy even the President’s encouragement to wear masks in counties without hospitals, I’m stunned.

15. If @DrMannySenate & @BillHagertyTN are afraid to lead Tennesseans by setting the minimum example of wearing a mask on their home turf, even when backed by the President’s encouragement, how will they find the courage to stand up for Tennesseans when they’re in DC?

Source: Case data from TN Dept of Health