81 days, 102 deaths for county
8 fatalities reported in biggest one-day change
In the 81 days since its first case was reported, Shelby County has lost 102 people to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Eight new deaths were reported Wednesday, the largest single-day change since the pandemic started.
The rate of the death from the virus has surpassed the violence that plagues Memphis, showing that the region’s invisible foe is still wreaking havoc even as the worst-case scenarios have been averted thus far.
Since March 15, 58 homicides have occurred, according to data from the city’s public information portal. For the same period in 2019, 44 homicides were reported.
The 2018-2019 flu season caused 160 fatalities across the state of Tennessee, according to the Shel
by County Health Department. The county health department’s director, Alisa Haushalter, said a number of the fatalities from COVID-19 complications in Shelby County have occurred after cluster outbreaks developed at long-term care facilities.
“The increase in COVID-19 mortality reported today is concerning,” Haushalter said in a statement. “Many of these recent deaths are related to nursing home clusters or other health care system exposure and involved elderly and vulnerable populations. The elderly and those with chronic health conditions are most likely to experience severe complications when infected with the COVID-19 virus and are also most likely to have fatal outcomes.”
Shelby County, as of Wednesday morning, had a 2.2% mortality rate among known COVID-19 cases. While that is below the national average — something local health officials have expressed relief about — it is above Tennessee’s statewide average of 1.6% as of Tuesday afternoon. Shelby County, with about 14% of the state’s population, has had about 30% of its COVID-19 deaths.
Occasionally, there are delays between deaths occurring and being reported to the Shelby County Health Department.
However, Haushalter indicated Wednesday afternoon that a delay in reporting did not appear to play into the eight fatalities reported Wednesday morning.
The death toll passing 100 comes even as Memphis and Shelby County have avoided a surge in hospitalizations and an overwhelmed health care system. Early projections forecast between 1,100 and 4,000 deaths without significant intervention.
The local “Safer at Home” orders changed the scenario for the region, according to health experts, but the prevalence of the virus among the older and more susceptible, particularly in nursing homes, has still caused the death toll to rise.
“It’s very important that we protect our most vulnerable populations, particularly those in nursing homes,” Haushalter said.