Alex Jahangir, MD, director of orthopedic trauma at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, was appointed March 14 to head the city's Metro Coronavirus Task Force, reports WMOT.
Dr. Jahangir is an orthopedic surgeon and cofounder of the Vanderbilt Orthopaedic Institute Center for Health Policy.
The task force plans to facilitate information sharing among members of the coronavirus response team, including government staff, epidemiologists and hospital leaders.
Nashville's first confirmed case of COVID-19 — the illness caused by the novel coronavirus — was reported on March 8. As of March 15, the number has risen to 17 in the city and 39 in Tennessee, according to News Channel 5 Nashville.