MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Just a day after Memphis hospitals started vaccinating staffers against COVID, the Shelby County Health Department is considering new restrictions.
The news comes as rising cases make Memphis a hotspot for COVID.
Tennessee now leads the nation in cases per capita, and Shelby County has led the state in new cases over the last three weeks.
Thursday, the county reported nearly 1,200 new infections, a new record high, and hospital capacity remains at a critical level.
According to the White House, Tennessee is averaging more than 300 new COVID patients in hospitals each week.
Right now, the state is just shy of 2,900 confirmed COVID hospitalizations, and there are nearly 270 more suspected cases.
The White House COVID task force says masks should be required in public statewide, but Gov. Bill Lee continues to insist that masks and other behaviors are a matter of choice.
“One thing that this vaccine will not solve, one thing it will not cure, is selfishness, or indifference to what’s happening to our neighbors around us,” Lee said Thursday. “This vaccine will not cure foolish decisions about how we gather. It won’t cure an attitude of refusal to wear a mask. And it won’t cure the idea that I will take my chances and that will not impact someone else’s life. I think Tennesseans have a tremendous capacity right now to responsibly make decisions.”
Those choices may be disappearing in Shelby County.
Local leaders have been talking about fines for not wearing masks and a return to safer at home orders, and they may be part of a new health directive expected Monday.
Health officials say that new directive will probably include new restrictions on gatherings. They couldn’t share specific details at their briefing Thursday.
Officials said the virus is spreading “exponentially” in the area because people continue to socialize, whether at work, home, church, or at weddings and funerals. It’s largely being spread between people who know each other, they said.
Health officials say they’ll meet with local mayors before deciding what restrictions to put in the new directive.
Also on Monday, county commissioners are expected to vote on whether to give the health department the authority to fine people who don’t wear a mask in public.
