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Gov. Lee scales back Tennessee spending amid virus outbreak

Shelby County officials said as of Wednesday morning, there are 4 confirmed cases in the county.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As coronavirus fears grow, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has proposed funneling money into relief for tornado and health crises, scaling back planned teacher raises, and socking more cash away into reserves.

Lee unveiled the scaled-back budget to lawmakers Wednesday.

The state legislature is scrambling to pass the spending plan for the 2020-21 fiscal year and other items lawmakers say are "mission critical" before they recess this week.

Meanwhile, lawmakers also considered proposals that would ease requirements for schools choosing to close amid the virus outbreak.

Tennessee had more than 70 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, most of them in Middle Tennessee.

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RELATED: Fourth person tests positive for the Coronavirus in Shelby County

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Coronavirus in Context: 

The majority of people who have coronavirus will get better without any long-term effects, according to an Oregon doctor. About 80% of cases tend to be mild. In these cases, symptoms diminish over five to seven days, although people are still capable of transmitting the disease. But there are many people with a higher risk of having a more severe disease if they are diagnosed with coronavirus, including those with heart disease, diabetes, asthma and other vascular disease problems.

Also, most children who get it have mild symptoms.

WHO officials said March 9 that of about 80,000 people who have been sickened by COVID-19 in China, more than 70% have recovered and been discharged from hospitals.

Patients are typically released when they test negative twice for the virus within 24 hours, meaning they’re no longer carrying the virus, although some countries may be using a slightly different definition, that may include when people have no more respiratory symptoms or a clear CT scan.

The World Health Organization said it could take considerably longer for people to be “recovered,” depending on the severity of disease.

Dr. Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization's emergencies chief, said it can take up to six weeks for people to fully recover from COVID-19 infections, which could include pneumonia and other respiratory problems in serious cases. He said the numbers of reported patients have not always been systematically provided to World Health Organization although the U.N. health agency is asking every country with cases for further information.

To put the coronavirus numbers in context, millions of Americans get the flu every single year and there are thousands of flu deaths annually.

Since October 2019, the CDC estimates around 32 million Americans have gotten the flu. That’s one in every 10 Americans.

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