MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A new health directive is set to be released on Wednesday and it could include more recommendations than mandatory guidelines.
To start off the task force meeting Tuesday, health officials shared a slide of the health directive from April which states that if the case numbers and other indicators remain stable over the next 30 days, the next health directive would include more recommendations rather than mandatory restrictions.
Mayor Lee Harris confirmed Shelby County has avoided another surge, putting it well within reason that Wednesday’s health directive will lift the restrictions. However, health officials did not confirm that the restrictions would be changed.
“I’m not going to get out in front of the announcement tomorrow. Sufficed to say, the discussions have been robust and ongoing for the last thirty days, and there will be more on that tomorrow,” Harris said.
COO Doug McGowen also said the county is anticipating vaccinating children as young as 12 within the week. He noted that before they can move forward, they will need to get approval and guidance from the state health department.
They anticipate that happening Wednesday, with vaccinations starting on Thursday at the earliest.
“We’ve retained a very high capacity for testing. And the sequencing that David has talked about is no small feat,”McGowen said.