As ambulances continue to be delayed at emergency rooms, two social issues dominate the pandemic. One is the great need for medical workers. The other is the volume of testing that goes wanting every day in the city.

Officials are asking for a large-scale ramp-up of medical and non-medical workers to help in hospitals and testing centers.

“My message for you today is that we need you,” Doug McGowen, chief operating officer for the City of Memphis, said at the COVID-19 joint task force briefing Tuesday, Dec. 8. “We need you to join the fight. If you’re a licensed medical provider in any domain, we would like you to step forward and sign up to the Medical Reserve for the state of Tennessee. 

“That is the formal way we can get you engaged in the fight and put you at the right place at the right time. If you are someone who is interested in helping, but don’t have any kind of a medical background, we need you, as well,” he said, noting that too many medically trained people in the city are doing administrative work in the midst of the crisis.

The region has paid and volunteer positions available.

Since early March, the number of medically licensed personnel registered with the corps has increased 41% to 4,009. The number of non-medical volunteers is up 11% to 12,256. More are needed in both categories.

In the meantime, the city’s medical campuses are working out plans to deploy thousands of students to help with the massive inoculation campaign, expected to start this winter.

These “force multipliers,” McGowen said, are the people ready to stand in the gap so medically certified people can care for patients.

The need is urgent, he said, noting that the alternate care hospital in the former Commercial Appeal building can’t open due to the same staffing shortages that are plaguing hospitals around the nation. 

More than 150 ICU patients in the area are COVID-positive

“The issue is not with the facility, it’s with available staffing,” McGowen said.

Testing

Shelby County has a vast and mostly free testing capacity, which means for months, people have been encouraged to get tested, even if they were asymptomatic. But 0n most days, 30% to 40% of the capacity goes unused.

The city is rolling out weekend testing events before the holidays so people will know their COVID-19 status. To see a list of up-do-date testing sites and appointment requirements, go to Shelby.community or to the city’s site. The city is planning to add more late afternoon and early evening hours to accommodate people being tested after work.

Testing this weekend will take place at 1720 RKS Commercial Cove off Lamar Avenue and at Poplar Healthcare at 3495 Hacks Cross Road.

Nursing students tapped to help administer vaccines

Last weekend, in city surge testing at two locations, 16% of a mostly asymptomatic crowd of 2,540 people tested positive.

“The vast majority of those had no idea they were infected with COVID and would have gone about their normal course of business, interacting with other people, living their lives and potentially spreading the virus. Please, take advantage of the testing opportunities that we have here,” McGowen said.

Vaccination

Shelby County expects to receive early doses of the Pfizer vaccine in mid-December. They will be distributed to hospitals to inoculate health care workers. The Health Department is expected to receive the Moderna vaccine, which will be used for mass inoculations of the public.

“Sometime shortly after that, we will put in place a distribution plan that we will execute once we receive the vaccine,” McGowen said.

Distribution will be divided into four phases, beginning with front-line health workers and first responders.

“You can expect that nearly all of the first two shipments of vaccine that we receive will be targeted at that group; they are the highest risk,” he said.

Next in line will be residents and workers in congregate settings. The general public’s turn will come in late winter or early spring.

“I want to be clear that the very beginning of this that we’re not going to get a huge amount of vaccine,” McGowen said. “It will only be about enough to begin inoculating those front-line workers and first responders.”

Haushalter: Citizens in non-priority groups can expect vaccine March to June

He expects it could be summer or fall before the community sees the first large impact from the mass immunizations.

“I think the message is, stay with it, and stay the course. We understand that there is COVID fatigue. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I know that that light inspires me each and every day to double down our efforts to make sure that we do all we can for this community,” McGowen said.

While the vaccines are proving to be 95% effective, people will need to wear masks for months yet, he said.

“We need you to do your part,” McGowen said, to keep hospitalizations down. “And if you are interested in helping, we need you as well. Our hospital systems are going to be strained for the next few months.”

The Health Department will be scheduling listening sessions to hear from people who have concerns about being vaccinated.

According to Health Department modeling, 649 people will be hospitalized on Jan. 15. 

Health officials are watching the seven days from Dec. 10-17 for an uptick in cases, related to Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday, 488 people were hospitalized locally with COVID-19, including 150 in ICUs. Hospitalization use was at 92%.

Nursing students tapped to help administer vaccines

Enforcement

The Health Department is in favor of a fine structure that would allow it to punish businesses that flout the rules without closing them down.

Right now, its options are to close the business or do nothing. Over the weekend, it closed nine businesses.

“Our investigators will respond to complaints,” said Dr. Bruce Randolph, the Health Department’s medical officer. “We do random inspections. We are looking for people adhering to safety measures: no smoking, standing, dancing or gathering or crowding. The places that were closed violated some or all of the measures.”

The Shelby County Commission discussed a $50 fine Monday but did not vote on it.

Due to pressure that Health Department inspectors encounter in their work, they are now being accompanied by law enforcement.

“We’re particularly investigating the reports that we are receiving from citizens and from other individuals pertaining to large gatherings and events,” Randolph said.

He also noted that Shelby County specifically chose to impose masking and distancing restrictions so businesses could stay open. Many other cities have closed their restaurants.

“So, it’s very important that everyone adhere to the safety measures so we won’t have to close businesses and establishments.”

Increased ‘volatility’ is backdrop as commission calls for statewide mask mandate

Enforcement is effective, McGowen said, but compliance is better. 

“There are so many businesses out there who are doing this the right way and so many people who are doing this the right way. And then, there are other folks who are trying to do whatever they can, ‘Let’s see what we can get away with’ and are just trying not to get caught,” McGowen said.

“I would encourage you – if you’re in that latter category – to rethink things. The people in your community are counting on you to do the right thing, not for you to see what you can get away with,” he said.

“Second, if you see something, don’t just assume that we know what’s happening,” McGowen said, encouraging witnesses to call 311 or the Shelby County Health Department, 222-9000, to report incidents of non-compliance.

“I realize that many people believe we have universal knowledge of everything that happens, but unfortunately we do not,” he said. “And we rely a lot on the citizenry to tell us when things are happening. We have a limited workforce out there in the field. They are out there 24/7 working hard to keep us safe.”

Beale St. club among latest health department closures

Current coronavirus statistics

• Shelby County has had 51,775 total cases: 91.8% have recovered, 1.4% have died, 6.9% are active cases, there have been 541 new cases the last 24 hours, 709 deaths since the pandemic began and four new deaths from Monday to Tuesday, Dec. 8.
• The county has conducted 697,668 tests. Of those tests 91% have been negative.
• The positivity rate for the week of Nov. 22 was 12.8%.
• The positivity rate is 13.6% for the week ended Dec. 5.
• There are currently 8,346 people in quarantine.