COVID-19 puts more in local hospitals
232 hospitalized in what may be Memphis record
Wednesday night, 232 people were in Memphis hospitals due to COVID-19, “one of the highest numbers or the highest number we've seen so far,” said Dr. David Sweat, chief of epidemiology with the Shelby County Health Department.
That number included people in both acute care and intensive care units, Sweat said.
The county is closely monitoring hospitalizations due to the novel coronavirus, he said.
If numbers begin to climb, the county will have conversations with the state about opening the alternative care site located at the former Commercial Appeal building.
“At this point in time our hospitalizations are within our capabilities,” Sweat said.
As of Monday evening, there were 559 acute care and 231 intensive care units in reserve at Shelby County hospitals in addition 401 beds at the former Commercial Appeal Building on Union Avenue.
Shelby County's count of reported novel coronavirus cases rose to 8,688 Thursday, up from 8,394 Wednesday, according to the county health department, an increase of 294 cases. There have been 176 reported deaths from COVID-19 complications in the county as of Thursday.
Also concerning is the test positivity rate — the ratio of positive COVID-19 tests to all tests — Sweat said
Thursday. The previous week has shown positivity rates of about 10.3%, he said, as high as it was in the second part of March.
Currently, infections are being seen among younger populations often due to socialization, Sweat said. Transmission occurs as people go to bars, host dinner parties and attend barbecues, he said.
As July 4 nears, Sweat cautioned people to be careful regarding large events.
Public health officials are also concerned about people going back to work with mild symptoms, exposing their coworkers to COVID-19.
“We would like to believe that if people would mask up and rededicate themselves to social distancing, rededicate themselves to handwashing and comply with the control measures, that will all help us get these infection rates to go back down and we can avoid imposing more difficult choices to control the epidemic,” Sweat said.
Katherine Burgess covers county government, religion and the suburbs. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com, 901-5292799 or followed on Twitter @kathsburgess.