On Thursday, the Hamilton County Reporter published an article indicating the first person had died of COVID-19 in Hamilton County. The article identified the person as a Madison County resident and indicated the person died in a Hamilton County hospital.
The article created controversy with both Hamilton County and Madison County officials denying the information.
“Thursday morning, I received phone calls from Hamilton County officials questioning the report. Hamilton County said they had no knowledge of the death. Then a representative from the Madison County Health Department called. He claimed no knowledge of the death being COVID-19 related,” said Hamilton County Reporter Publisher Jeff Jellison.
Later on Thursday, Madison County issued a media release confirming the information published by the Reporter.
The media release from Madison County only identified the deceased as a male, over the age of 70, hospitalized as a COVID-19 patient.
“We knew the information published was accurate. It is unfortunate our county leaders and health officials first learned of the death by reading the Reporter. It makes me question the accuracy of the data being provided to the public,” concluded Jellison.