In yesterday’s Joint Task Force briefing, mass testing of students and teachers was mentioned. I wanted to give you a few more details on that.
Earlier this year and in partnership with City Council, we allocated $12 million from the federal CARES Act funds assigned to Memphis for enhanced COVID-19 testing. Of that $12 million, City council approved an initial $2 million for a pooled testing pilot. To give you a quick refresher, the pooling method combines multiple patient samples and runs the test of all the samples together. If the result is negative, all samples are cleared. If they come back positive, each pooled sample would then be run individually to determine which may be positive.
To find out exactly how the pilot would work, we created a testing committee that meets virtually three times every week, and we started testing with our own city employees first. After a few successful internal rounds of city employees and some children in summer programs (with parental approval of course), we expanded the pilot to include teachers and are currently in the process of adding (on a first-come-first-served basis) schools that are open for in-person learning this fall semester.
At this point, we have the capability to test up to 4,000 students and teachers per day, every day and hopefully that number will grow as we move forward. In order to safely keep our schools open and our teachers and children safe, we are strongly encouraging schools to test and test often. It is the only way to know from week to week if someone is infected and stop a potential outbreak before it starts.
Mask Enforcement
DATA AND ACTIONS FOR AUGUST 11
Received 19 complaints
City Mask Ordinance
Code completed 53 inspections based on processed complaints.
3 businesses received warnings.
1 business received a summons.
0 businesses received a second summons
H.D. Mask and Other Violations
Code completed 10 inspections based on processed complaints
0 businesses received warnings
ENFORCEMENT STATUS TO DATE – CITY MASK ORDINANCE
To date, 770 City Mask Complaints have been inspected by Code:
666 complaints have been resolved as “compliant” following inspection by Code
36 current open matters. The following is a breakdown of the open matters:
16 pending inspections
7 businesses on 1st Violation
4 business on 2nd Violation
0 businesses on 3rd Violation
4 businesses have been issued first summons
2 businesses have been issued second summons
3 businesses were closed at first inspection (NOH)
ENFORCEMENT STATUS TO DATE – HEALTH DEPARTMENT DIRECTIVES
To date, 142 H.D. related complaints have been inspected by Code:
110 complaints have been resolved as “compliant” following inspection by Code.
12 current open matters. The following is a breakdown of the open matters:
8 pending inspections
2 businesses on 1st Violation
0 businesses on 2nd Violation
0 businesses on 3rd Violation
2 businesses were closed at first inspection (business was closed on arrival)
WRITTEN VIOLATIONS SUMMARY
To date, 363 City Mask Ordinance violations have been issued (this is the cumulative total for violations issued in closed and open matters)
To date, 28 Health Department violations have been issued (this is the cumulative total for violations issued in closed and open matters)
COVID-19 Data Points
Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Daily Update: August 12, 2020
Shelby County COVID-19 Cases
Total Shelby County Cases: 24,176
New Cases Today: 119
Deaths Total: 313
Deaths Reported Last 24 Hours: 5
Total Tested in Shelby County: 224,130
Tennessee Total Cases: 124,915
As of 2:00 p.m. 8/11/20
Other Jurisdictions
Tipton County, TN: 1,217
Desoto County, MS: 3,710
Crittenden County, AR: 1,381
Numbers current as of 10:00 a.m. 8/12/20
Shelby County Health Department is tracking clusters in facilities that serve certain vulnerable populations:
Here is information about clusters considered to be resolved. A cluster is considered resolved once a facility has gone 28 days without a new case:
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.
All of Shelby County, including the municipalities and the unincorporated areas are under Safer at Home orders. Some non-essential businesses, including bars and some limited service restaurants have been ordered to close, under the current Health Directive No. 9. Health Directive No. 9 also orders all restaurants in Shelby County to close no later than 10:00 p.m. each night. These orders will remain in place under Health Directive No. 10.
Health Directive No. 10, announced on Friday, August 7, 2020, goes into effect on Monday, August 10, 2020. Substantive changes from Health Directive No. 9 include:
Improvements/Set Backs and Responses chart added to show “tripwires” for re-openings/shutdowns. The Health Department will continue to share information about testing capacity, hospital capacity, and public health capacity with the mayors and other medical partners because those “responses” involve actions required by the health department and/or governmental partners.
Sports are addressed based on Governor Lee’s Executive Order 55 (there are also FAQs on the digital site that speak to sports (at the bottom of the page)
County courthouses are addressed (to limit too much traffic coming in)
The full text of Health Directive No. 10 may be viewed at: www.shelbytnhealth.com/healthdirectives.
For more information about the Safer at Home order or to register concerns, the public may contact:
· The Shelby County Mayor’s Action Line: 901-222-2300
· The Shelby County Health Department’s COVID-19 Hotline: 833-943-1658
· Email shelbytnhealth@shelbycountytn.gov.
On July 3, and updated July 7, 2020, the Shelby County Health Department issued a Health Order and Directive Regarding Masks and Cloth Face Coverings, which may be viewed at www.shelbytnhealth.com/healthdirectives.
The Order and Directive requires the use of masks or cloth facial coverings in most public settings by all persons in Shelby County with the exceptions of children age two or younger and persons who cannot tolerate facial coverings because of certain medical conditions.
Please note, face masks with expiratory vents or valves are not recommended. The vents allow potentially infectious respiratory droplets to be expelled into the air and therefore do not prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Approved masks may be picked up, while supplies last, at all Shelby County Health Department locations listed below during the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., with the exception of the Collierville clinic, which is open Tuesday and Thursday only. No appointment is needed to pick up a mask.
Health Department Main Office
814 Jefferson Avenue, 38105
Cawthon Public Health Clinic
1000 Haynes, 38114
Collierville Public Health Clinic (Tuesday and Thursday, 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.)
167 Washington St., 38017
Hickory Hill Public Health Clinic
6590 Kirby Center Cove, 38118
Millington Public Health Clinic (Tuesday and Thursday, 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.)
8225 Highway 51 North, 38053
Shelby Crossing Public Health Clinic
6170 Macon Road, 38133
Southland Mall Public Health Clinic
1287 Southland Mall, 38116