Memphis has help in COVID-19 fight
Climate, population density are vital
A University of Pennsylvania expert believes that Memphis and Nashville’s social distancing in response to COVID-19 has been aided by a relatively hot and humid climate and population density far below that of harder-hit Northern
cities.
Over the past two months, Tennessee has avoided overwhelmed hospital systems, a spike in deaths and an overall surge of COVID-19 cases. Local and state health officials have credited social distancing measures and public buy-in for its relative success in flattening the curve.
To David Rubin of the University of
Pennsylvania, Memphis’ and Nashville’s use of social distancing coupled with the climate and population density have bought the respective regions’ time before the widely anticipated second wave of infections in the fall.
Put another way, the epidemic in Memphis, Nashville and other Southern cities is “smoldering” — the virus is still there, but it has not flamed up into a full-fledged fire.
“I think (Davidson and Shelby counties) look like some of these hot, humid counties in the South that I have been seeing that have been smoldering. They’re not showing these epidemic curves like Chicago, New York and Boston…,” said Rubin, an infectious disease expert and pediatrician at the University of Pennsylvania. “To me that reflects the different types of transmission (and) some of the population density advantages you have in the South. … Your pattern looks like what I call a