MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County health officials said their staff will be out this weekend investigating the more than 70 complaints they have received regarding businesses in violation of the latest health directives.
“There have been threats towards to the inspectors and those who do enforcement, but there have been broader threats to public health in general,” said Shelby County Health Department director Dr. Alisa Haushalter.
According to Bruce Randolph, they have recently had to partner with local law enforcement to aid their inspectors while out on calls as these employees have become the target of threats and even racial slurs.
“It’s important that we have law enforcement accompany us because we have received threats Our staff has received threats and racial slurs,” Randolph said.
Randolph reminded business owners that these employees are simply doing their job and that sort of behavior will not be tolerated.
He also pointed out the health department has been working tirelessly to educate business owners on what things are in violation and which are not. Violations can be found on the Shelby County Health Department’s website.
Randoph said the health department doesn’t want to shut down any business, but if one closed due to violations there is no need to call the health department to complain or try to get the decision reversed.
“It’s very important that we’re not out just to close businesses,” Randolph said. “We’re out to protect the public’s health.”
After the recent Thanksgiving holiday, the public could likely face a shortage of hospital beds for COVID and non-COVID patients.
“So, next week we may see more numbers relative to Thanksgiving and then the following week, as we get into Christmas, people may be hospitalized. We anticipate that to be a challenge,” Haushalter said.
And with a COVID vaccine arriving in Shelby County within weeks, the health department says it plans to give the community more information about it.
“As a health care provider and as a nurse, I really value people having information to make an informed decision. So, our role collectively information that accurate and timely to the public,” Haushalter said.
Latest Data
The Shelby County Health Department reported 53,058 cases Thursday, an increase of 695 cases.
There have been 722 deaths, an increase of six deaths in the last 24 hours. The deaths account for 1.4 percent of all cases in Shelby County.
There are 48,741 inactive/recovered cases and 3,595 active cases (6.8 percent of all cases) in the county.
As of Dec. 9, there are 463 patients being treated for COVID-19 in Shelby County hospitals. Combined with the non-COVID patients, hospitals are currently operating at 92 percent utilization when it comes to acute care. In the ICU departments, it’s 92 percent.
The latest models suggest more than 600 patients will be in the hospital on Christmas Day. There is a 50 percent chance of the range being 500-725 on Christmas Day. The ICU projection sits at 157 for Christmas.
The model goes on to esimate 649 in the hospital on January 15.
There is also concern regarding hospital staffing especially with hospitals having medical staff in isolation and quarantine.
The weekly test positivity rate has increased to 12.9 percent. Last week, it was 10.4 percent.
