Coronavirus live blog, April 15: County approves $2.5M for virus expenses
Shelby County Commission has approved spending $2.5 million for coronavirus testing and other expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reporter
Abigail Warren is a lifelong resident of Shelby County and a graduate of the University of Memphis. She has worked for several local publications and covers the suburbs for The Daily Memphian.
There are 1805 articles by Abigail Warren :
Shelby County Commission has approved spending $2.5 million for coronavirus testing and other expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gov. Bill Lee provides an update on economic recovery for Tennessee.
The fund will be divided into three focus areas: education, food insecurity and support for small businesses and people in the local gig economy.
Bill Lee announced the order for Tennesseans to remain at home will expire April 30, with most businesses in 89 counties, allowed to re-open on May 1. He said he spoke with mayors from the state’s largest urban areas, and noted they will be providing their own outlines for opening.
Germantown identified a way for the public to address the board in its virtual meetings.
Collierville interviewed five people for the open chief of police position. The candidates have decades of of policing experience and three have experience locally.
The Germantown Municipal School District is limiting general fund spending through the end of the fiscal year to combat reduced revenues streams.
A cell tower at Dogwood Elementary School heads to final review by aldermen at the April 27 virtual meeting.
Shelby County Health Department is reporting 35 new coronavirus cases of coronavirus for a total of 1,766.
The county announced Lakeside Behavioral Health has three staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19.
MicroPort Scientific and its Arlington-based orthopedics division have donated 100,000 surgical masks to Memphis Fire Services, and the company plans to donate 100,000 more locally soon.
Behind the Saturday trial opening of the city-owned Links at Whitehaven course is a lot of jockeying for positions by local businesses that want to be in the first wave of reopenings — from elective medical procedures by doctors to car washes and barber shops and nail salons to restaurants.
The health department report points to a total of 115 new cases since confirming 1,616 cases of COVID-19 on Friday morning.
Districts across Tennessee are grappling with graduation celebrations as Gov. Bill Lee recommended schools close for the remainder of the year. Shelby County's suburban schools are looking for ways to honor senior accomplishments.
"There may come a time when we must reduce your city services due to city employees becoming infected with the virus,” Mayor Jim Strickland said in an email Thursday afternoon.
The city is in the midst of gathering public input for its public arts master plan. While guidelines prohibit large gatherings, public input will look slightly different than originally planned.
Aldermen John Stamps and John Worley will seek re-election in November. Financial disclosures filed last week affirmed the two plan to pull petitions in June and desire to continue serving on the Collierville board.
There have been 633 hospitalizations and 1,969 people are classified as having recovered from the disease.
Germantown Municipal School District's Board of education approved a policy allowing most employees to work from home. However, some are performing duties outside of what is normally considered part of their job description.
The Village at Germantown is working with local and state health experts to investigate the seven positive cases there, but does not plan to test all residents and staff.
The Village at Germantown has confirmed recent cases of the novel coronavirus in employees and residents. Facility requesting help of county health department.