SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — Health officials expect Shelby County to move into Phase 3 of reopening next week, although the county reported its largest single-day case increase Tuesday.
The county announced it would reopen more businesses and activities June 15 if there isn’t extreme changes in the data.
Shelby County Health Director Dr. Alisa Haushalter said her team will keep monitoring things like the case count, transmission rate, testing and health care capacity.
She said there was an uptick in cases, likely from the Memorial Day weekend.
The county is now seeing an average of 100 new cases a day.
The Shelby County Health Department on Tuesday reported 192 cases of COVID-19, which would make it the largest single-day increase in the number of positive coronavirus cases.
On Monday, health officials reported 5,927 cases. Within 24 hours, that number had increased by 192 to 6,119.
On June 2, the department reported 190 cases, which it then said had been the largest single-day increase.
Regardless, it seems officials are ready to move forward to Phase 3. That would allow things like gyms and restaurants to increase capacity to 75%.
According to the latest health directive, it gives the green light for summer camps, recreation and athletic activities to reopen next week under certain safety guidelines.
It also permits some entertainment venues to open with clear social distancing plans.
Haushalter said they will be flexible and willing to work with individuals and businesses..
“If we can assure compliance to social distancing and masking, we can make exceptions prior to the 15th,” she said.
Haushalter said they will continue to expand their testing efforts and ask that people get tested if they show any symptoms or think they’ve been exposed.
She also has new advice for people who’ve been at recent demonstrations.
“If someone has been engaged in protest, the CDC is recommending individuals get tested somewhere around day five or seven,” she said.
Haushalter also said the health department is working with the University of Memphis to start conducting studies on who is wearing masks and who isn’t, and then coming up with a plan on how to get more people on board with wearing them
