Whitley County Health Department issues COVID–19 public notice in connection with Saxton Baptist Church youth trip

The Whitley County Health Department has released a second COVID–19 public notice in connection with Saxton Baptist Church in Williamsburg.

According to the notice released Monday afternoon, anyone who attended a youth camp along with a group from the church at Booker T. Washington State Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee, between July 19 and July 24 may have been exposed to the virus.

The health department had issued a public notice last week concerning Sunday service at the church on July 26.

“The public notice doesn’t imply that they failed to do anything,” Rein said of church officials or members of the congregation. “It is out of an abundance of caution.”

Anyone, who was with the group, is asked to contact the health department at 549-3380.

Rein said previously that the goal with these public notices is not to punish anyone but to determine the connections that have resulted in it being contracted, and who else the individuals may have come into contact with.

“We are trying to develop the big picture,” Rein said previously.

Rein said in order for the health department to issue a public notice concerning a business or organization and a communicable disease, two out of four criteria must be met.

Those criteria include:

• More than 10 people present
• The use of physical distancing and face coverings
• Cluster of more than two people testing positive
• That cluster not involving people from the same household

“Individuals who feel ill should also contact their healthcare provider,” health department officials stated.