Shelby County coronavirus positivity rate continues to grow
A Christ Community Health Services employee tests a patient for COVID-19 at First Baptist Church on Broad Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee June 19, 2020. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Shelby County’s overall positivity rate of coronavirus tests was 9.7% on Wednesday, July 22, continuing the rate’s rise since early June.
On Wednesday, the Shelby County Health Department reported 277 new coronavirus cases (out of 1,822 tests), which gives the day a positivity rate of 15.2%.
The Health Department also reported seven additional deaths from the disease.
In Shelby County, 178,572 coronavirus tests have been administered since the beginning of the pandemic. The county’s total is now 17,255 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 251 deaths; 12,002 people are considered recovered from the disease.
A person attending an event with 10 attendees in Shelby County currently has a 40% chance of encountering someone COVID-positive, according to a coronavirus event risk assessment planning tool created by Georgia Institute of Technology and Applied Bioinformatics Laboratory researchers.
As for hospital capacity, 88% of regional intensive care unit beds are being used, as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, according to the state’s Health Resources Tracking System.
Of the 384 patients in ICUs, 100 are COVID-positive and another 27 are under investigation for the virus, meaning that about 33% of patients in ICUs are COVID-positive or under investigation for the virus.
And 53 ICU beds are available.
Ninety-one percent of regional acute care beds is being used.
Of the 2,200 patients in acute care, 221 are COVID-positive and another 96 are under investigation for the virus, meaning that about 14% are COVID-positive or under investigation for the virus.
And 217 acute care beds are available.
The hospital data above is reflective of facilities in Shelby, Lauderdale and Tipton counties in Tennessee, Crittenden County in Arkansas, and DeSoto County in Mississippi.
The Tennessee Department of Health reports statewide coronavirus data at 2 p.m. daily.
As of Tuesday, July 21, the agency reported 81,944 coronavirus cases including 871 deaths, 3,798 hospitalizations and 47,852 considered recovered.
In Tennessee, 1.2 million coronavirus tests have been performed.
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coronavirusElle Perry
A native Memphian, Elle Perry has earned graduate degrees from the University of Memphis and Maryland Institute College of Art. She’s written for publications including the Memphis Business Journal, Memphis Flyer and High Ground News, and previously served as coordinator of The Teen Appeal.
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