COVID-19’s Catch-22: Are Memphis kids safer at school or at home?
Kids who go to school risk exposing themselves and others to COVID-19. But many kids who stay home are more vulnerable to adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs.
David Waters
Investigative reporter
David Waters is Distinguished Journalist in Residence and assistant director of the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis.
There are 70 articles by David Waters :
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July 2020
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Metro
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June 2020
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Metro When schools closed, Bridget Riley’s class found new sources of instruction, inspiration
East High's collaboration with local artists showed the academic, social and emotional potential of an interactive online class.
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Spirit of Memphis Memphis woman fights COVID-19 in Navajo Nation
Janice Ballard follows her faith in God and public health onto the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
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May 2020
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Metro The ones we’ve lost: Area sees 100 local COVID-19 deaths and counting
The death count is dramatically lower than early warnings, but no less tragic, as coronavirus precautions left many victims to die alone, isolated from their spouses and children, dear friends and clergy.
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Neighborhoods ‘Miracle’ third child snares fourth-generation Grambling scholarship
COVID-19 cancelled Amari Ajamu's senior trip, and prom, and graduation ceremony, but it didn't stop his family from celebrating their Soulsville Charter School and Stax Academy graduate.
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Metro Lots of COVID-19 data but few answers about what the numbers mean for reopening
The slowly rising tide of local confirmed COVID-19 cases and related deaths can get lost in the uneven ebb and flow of daily numbers.
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Coronavirus Coronavirus live blog, April 9: State reports 4,634 cases, 94 deaths
The Tennessee Department of Health puts the Shelby County coronavirus case number at 1,006.
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Metro Brooks Ramsey, legendary Memphis minister, dies two weeks after his wife of 75 years
Ramsey, who pushed his white Baptist congregations to desegregate in the 1960s, spent his last few decades serving as a counselor, teacher and minister in five other denominations.
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Metro Leaders weigh ‘Back to Business’ risks of reopening badly
Local leaders worry that conflicting and inconsistent policies could make "Back to Business" rules more difficult to maintain and reopening risks more difficult to control.
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April 2020
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Metro Coronavirus adds to fear, struggles of migrant mothers
One immigrant mother helping others protect their families from COVID, ICE and other threats.
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MetroDoctors helping to create plan to reopen Memphis
The medical experts tasked with helping to plan the city's reopening know taming the virus will require risk assessment and management they've never attempted. They also know they can't afford to be wrong.
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MetroShelby County should be able to test 5,000 people a day for COVID-19. So, why isn’t it?
Shelby County has the kits and lab space to test 5,000 people a day for COVID-19, but declining demand and other issues have kept daily tests below 1,000 just as the need for testing grows.
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Metro From beginning to end, Memphis’ testing process has challenges
The lightning speed at which the novel coronavirus moves and attacks has made testing, tracing, and targeting its path even more difficult and vital.
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Metro Predicting the surge in Memphis: will a new state-specific model work better?
Predictive models are important and helpful, but can’t be taken as gospel, said Dr. Manoj Jain, the infectious disease expert and epidemiologist who is advising the local COVID-19 Task Force.
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Metro Questions about race and locations of COVID-19 outbreaks gain attention
“The goal isn’t so much to expand the volume of testing but the equity of testing, both demographically and geographically,” said Jenny Bartlett-Prescott, chief operating officer of Church Health who is leading the task force’s testing subgroup.
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MetroTask force aims to test 1,000 a day, whether they can pay or not
Local health officials believe ramped-up testing is vital for lessening the current wave of coronavirus and the next one.
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Metro Local social distancing policies seem to be working; new surge estimates show fewer deaths
The computer model Tennessee and Shelby County are using to predict the surge in COVID-19 cases dramatically changed Monday, April 6, and for the better.
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Coronavirus Predictions on COVID-19 surge differ, but all agree it’s coming
Hundreds of people in government, health care, academia and business are working around the clock to predict and prepare for the coming COVID-19 surge.
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Metro Waters: Churches move online, preaching gospel of social distance
The faithful are attending Sunday school, Bible study and choir practice on YouTube and Twitter, and turning Facebook into a fellowship hall.
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Metro County’s first COVID-19 victim: Family, church mourn retired UTHSC administrator
Kenneth Bradshaw “never gave up, never gave in, always gave back.”
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Metro Waters: Health officials pushing pastors to keep pews empty
The pressure to move all church gatherings online has set off a tense debate about whether canceling on-site services is an act of faith or a betrayal of it.
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March 2020
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Opinion Waters: A bishop’s long Lent in coronavirus quarantine
Rev. Brad Whitaker was Hamilton County’s first confirmed COVID-19 case. Church leaders and county health officials began notifying anyone who had come in contact with him. That list included Bishop Phoebe Roaf of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee.
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Metro Waters: As shelters close and cheap motels fill, city’s homeless struggle to find sanctuary in a pandemic
It’s difficult for a woman to find space at a homeless shelter in Memphis. It’s nearly impossible for her to find shelter with her teenage son, even under normal circumstances. Efforts to mitigate the spread of coronavirus have caused nearly all of the city’s homeless shelters to close, partially or entirely.
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Spirit of Memphis Waters: Lenten preparations in a pandemic
Typical Sunday attendance is about 70 at Trinity United Methodist Church, about 40 at Shiloh United Methodist in Fayette County. Their virtual worship service had 400 views on Trinity’s page and 322 on Shiloh’s page.
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Opinion Waters: As pandemic advances, faith leaders embrace worship services for the digital age
“One of our biggest challenges is that many people don’t believe in the seriousness of this pandemic,” Catholic Bishop David Talley told colleagues in a webinar. “Please believe in what science is saying. This is not the devil. This is what science is telling us.”
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