Month: April 2020

COVID-19 Update from Mayor Strickland (4/4)

Post author By City of Memphis
Post date April 4, 2020

I talked yesterday about the enforcement of the Safer at Home Order, and wanted to update you on our noncompliant numbers through yesterday.

Total Original Complaints	125
Total Duplicate Complaints	22
First Visit Inspections Completed	98
In compliance 1st visit	68
Violations (Warnings) Issued	19
Reinspection	27
*Placards Posted	1

*Placards posted is a notice posted on the business telling them to vacate the property until further notice.

As you can see, the majority of businesses come into compliance quickly. Of all the inspections, only one refused to comply, and code enforcement is going out daily to inspect new complaints.

To file a complaint against a business or person not in compliance with the Safer at Home Order, call 311.

Help us help you by doing these things:

Stay home.
If you work at an essential business or need to run an essential errand and are sick—don’t. Stay home and ask a family member or a friend to do it for you.

If you need to go to work, grocery, or get take-out at restaurant, wear something to cover your mouth and nose.

When you wear a mask or covering, you still need to stay 6 feet from others.

If you walk or do another outside activity, stay at least 6 feet from anyone else.

To learn how to make your own mask, go here.

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Daily Update: April 4, 2020

COVID-19 Cases
Shelby County Cases	706
Deaths	10
Total Tested in Shelby County	8179
Tennessee Total Cases	3,067* *As of 2:00 p.m. 4/3/20
Other Jurisdictions:
Tipton County, TN	28
Desoto County, MS	111
Crittenden County, AR	43
Numbers current as of 10:00 a.m. 4/4/2020

Shelby County currently has 706 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The total number of deaths in Shelby County attributed to COVID-19 is 10.

Map of COVID-19 cases in Shelby County as of 04/02/2020

Data Source: National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)

COVID-19 Cases in Shelby County by Age as of 04/03/2020

Data Source: National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)

Shelby County Health Department has added a data page to its COVID-19 webpage: www.shelbytnhealth.com/coronavirus. It includes a number of data points about the distribution of COVID-19 cases in Shelby County.

The Health Department is committed to providing as much information as possible to the public as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop. The Health Department’s hotline number (833-943-1658).

Announcements

COVID-19 Update from Mayor Strickland (4/2)

Post author By City of Memphis
Post date April 2, 2020

From the national news down to our local outlets, everyone is talking about “the surge”. But, what does it mean?

My friend and fellow COVID-19 Task Force member, Dr. Jeff Warren (also Councilman Warren) uses a good analogy to describe the way the virus spreads and why social distancing is so important. It goes like this:

If you place one lily pad in a pond and that lily pad doubles every day for 30 days, what day is the pond fully covered by the lily pads? You may think day 15. It’s half way through the 30-day time period—wrong. Day 29 is when the pond is half full, and day 30 it’s completely covered.

That’s a very good way to look at the surge of those who may become ill. That analogy helps to demonstrate why I chose to institute the Safer at Home Executive Order and everything that goes along with it. Unlike lily pads growing on a pond, through social distancing we can drastically slow down the spread of the virus and reduce the number of us who get sick. We believe our social distancing will help slow the spread, but in the event it doesn’t, we have been working daily to make sure we are prepared as best we can.

The graph below shows the steady increase in cases as we approach our potential surge of people in need of a hospital in Memphis and Shelby County.

I mentioned the task force earlier. The Memphis/Shelby County COVID-19 Joint Task force is made up of both Memphis and Shelby County Government with participation from other Municipal Governments, Nonprofits and local hospitals.

The task force is currently looking at all available options (adding additional hospital beds, staffing, ventilators, and PPE) to be as prepared as we can be for the potential surge. Phase 1 of this was just announced by Governor Lee as he selected Gateway Shopping Center on Jackson Avenue as an alternative care buildout in Shelby County. We are continuing to work on Phases 2 and 3 should we need them. Speaking of the Governor, he also just announced that his Safer at Home order is now mandatory for Tennessee residents.

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Daily Update: April 2, 2020

COVID-19 Cases
Shelby County Cases	638
Deaths	7
Total Tested in Shelby County	7007
Tennessee Total Cases	2,845* *As of 2:00 p.m. 4/2/20
Other Jurisdictions:
Tipton County, TN	22
Desoto County, MS	94
Crittenden County, AR	32
Numbers current as of 10:00 a.m. 4/2/2020

Shelby County currently has 638 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Two additional deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported to the Shelby County Health Department overnight, bringing the total number of deaths in Shelby County attributed to COVID-19 to 7.

Map of COVID-19 cases in Shelby County as of 04/01/2020

The Health Department’s investigation of an outbreak at Carriage Court of Memphis assisted living facility continues.

The Health Department has tested 22 persons at the facility, including residents and staff.
Of that number, 20 results have been returned, and 2 are still pending.
Of the 20 results, 4 were positive and 16 were negative.
Prior to the Health Department’s involvement, 2 residents were tested by other health providers and found to be positive for COVID-19.

To date, there are a total of 6 positive cases at the facility, including 5 residents and 1 employee.

Carriage Court of Memphis is taking appropriate actions to contain the virus. The employee who tested positive is recovering at home in isolation.

Here is a breakdown of current cases in Shelby County by age range:

Shelby County Health Department has added a data page to its COVID-19 webpage: www.shelbytnhealth.com/coronavirus. It includes information about the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases in Shelby County.

Announcements

COVID-19 Update from Mayor Strickland (4/1)

Post author By City of Memphis
Post date April 1, 2020

Earlier today, I had the chance to speak with local grocers. There was one common theme that kept coming up–please, if you can, only have one family member grocery shop at a time. This helps with social distancing by having less people in store at the same time and also allows the staff to restock the shelves.

Hopefully, you’re seeing that we are doing everything we can to spread the word and remind everyone about the importance of social distancing. To further push out that message, I recorded a radio spot yesterday. I’m going to apologize now because you’re going to be hearing it a lot over the next several days.

To listen to the reminder, click below.

Positive Cases by Zip Code

Below is a breakdown of the 497 positive cases by zip code provided by the Shelby County Health Department. As you can see, the virus has spread to all parts of Shelby County.

Faith Leaders

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been in regular communication with local religious leaders to keep them informed and give guidance on how to slow the spread of the virus. We had our third conference call this morning.

Dr. Manoj Jain, a local infectious disease specialist and contract employee of the City, joined the group today. In his remarks, he gave his expert medical opinion on the continued importance of social distancing and urging the group not to hold in-person religious services until we get through this. His message was well-received and also gave the faith leaders a chance to ask any questions they might have had. We will continue these calls for as long as they are necessary.

Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund

Over the last couple weeks, I’ve been urging individuals, businesses, and foundations to make contributions to the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund at the Community Foundation. To date, donors have contributed $781,000 total, with $415,000 awarded in its first two weeks of operation.

Examples of organizations that have received grants can be seen below:

YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South: $100,000 to provide food service for Shelby County Schools students

Welcome to Memphis: $30,000: to award emergency grants to restaurant and hospitality workers

Community Alliance for the Homeless: $25,000 to house the newly homeless for 30 days

Neighborhood Christian Centers: $20,000 to provide family support and food stability

To see a full listing of grantees, learn more and donate online, visit cfgm.org/COVID

Drive-thru Testing Reminder at Tiger Lane

Just a reminder about testing. No provider referral required! Testing is free. You will need an appointment, and you won’t get tested if you’re not experiencing compatible symptoms. See below for more.

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Daily Update: April 1, 2020

COVID-19 Cases
Shelby County Cases	497
Deaths	3
Total Tested in Shelby County	5506
Tennessee Total Cases	2,239* *As of 2:00 p.m. 3/31/20
Other Jurisdictions:
Tipton County, TN	21
Desoto County, MS	84
Crittenden County, AR	29
Numbers current as of 10:00 a.m. 4/1/2020

Shelby County currently has 497 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Two additional deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported to the Shelby County Health Department this morning, bringing the total number of deaths in Shelby County attributed to COVID-19 to 3.

The Health Department’s investigation of an outbreak at Carriage Court of Memphis assisted living facility continues.

The Health Department has tested 22 persons at the facility, including residents and staff.
Of that number, 20 results have been returned, and 2 are still pending.
Of the 20 results, 4 were positive and 16 were negative.
Prior to the Health Department’s involvement, 2 residents were tested by other health providers and found to be positive for COVID-19.
To date, there are a total of 6 positive cases at the facility, including 5 residents and 1 employee.

Carriage Court of Memphis is taking appropriate actions to contain the virus. The employee who tested positive is recovering at home in isolation.

Here is a breakdown of current cases in Shelby County by age range: