As of today, March 26, there have been six cases of the Coronavirus reported by the Tennessee Department of Health.  We were made aware of one of those cases as a worker at Colinx Distribution Plant in Crossville.  The CEO of Colinx notified all employees of Colinx about the worker’s diagnosis and explained fully the action Colinx was taking to prevent further contamination.  Mr. Lynch also notified local officials of the situation.

CNF only wants to bring our readers facts, especially at this time of crisis.  We have been contacted by two employees of the Cumberland Mountain State Park that a server or perhaps a kitchen worker in the Park restaurant tested positive with COVID-19.  The restaurant was closed immediately this past Saturday.

The Tennessee Department of Health has explained that they work to identify anyone who has come in contact with a COVID-19 patient so as to notify those people to stay quarantined and get tested should they have symptoms.  In this case, however, it would be virtually impossible to contact every patron of a restaurant to notify them that a server in a restaurant they visited had the virus.  We contacted the State Park Manager who told us he could not speak about the situation due to employee rights of privacy – which is neither a confirmation nor denial.  We feel strongly that if there was not an employee of the Park Restaurant who tested positive the Park Manager would have made that abundantly clear to us. While we do respect the rights of privacy for anyone – we feel it would be prudent to advise the public if there had been a chance they were exposed to an infected individual. This is not a time to keep secrets.

It is purely in the interest of those who may have eaten at the Park Restaurant in recent weeks we are publicizing this now. If, indeed, that was a worker in the Park Restaurant, especially a server,  who came in contact with many patrons the only action that can be taken is to advise anyone who has been at the Park Restaurant to stay in your home and self-monitor for any symptoms of the virus.  If symptoms manifest, contact your primary care doctor or the Health Department for testing.  We are not trying to place blame on anyone or spread rumors, but we have enough evidence from Park employees and a lack of denial from the Park Manager that there is a great possibility of a server or even a kitchen staff member being tested positive for COVID-19.  And we feel the public deserves to know if they were potentially exposed to an infected person.   Currently, no one is telling the public where infected persons worked other than Colinx.  We are inundated with questions from our readers as to why businesses are not notifying the public when an employee has tested positive.  Of course, there is nothing anyone can do should they be infected other than staying home so as not to spread to others, and get tested should symptoms appear. However, if a Park Restaurant customer understands they may have been exposed to an infected person, the customer could take action by self-quarantining so as not to possibly spread the virus to others.