Shelby County
Leftover blood tests lead to COVID revelation
A U of M researcher combing through hundreds of local samples has found almost double the coronavirus antibodies expected.
Reporter
Longtime journalist Jane Roberts is a Minnesotan by birth and a Memphian by choice. She's lived and reported in the city more than two decades. She covers business news and features for The Daily Memphian.
There are 1375 articles by Jane Roberts :
A U of M researcher combing through hundreds of local samples has found almost double the coronavirus antibodies expected.
Demand, even with $20 gift cards, is at one-third of the capacity to administer COVID-19 vaccines.
Rhodes’ satellite is expected to have cleared the hurdles to launch by June 2023.
FEMA is expected to pack up and leave May 17, taking 21,000 extra doses of the vaccine with it.
University of Tennessee Health Science Center has trained health coaches to work in clinics in three cities that serve medically underserved people; and it’s taking notes on what happens.
At last count, 41% of adults in Shelby County had received at least one vaccine; the goal is 70%. Local leaders have done everything from eliminating the need for appointments to giving vaccination recipients gift cards.
Lifts restrictions on many outdoor activities and small-group gatherings, even some for those who are not vaccinated.
Gov. Lee has requested counties with independent health departments — Shelby, Madison, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox and Sullivan — that have remaining business restrictions or mask requirements to lift all measures no later than May 30.
In early April, the City of Memphis was giving 60,000 shots a week. Monday, April 26, it gave a total of 1,100 shots across all of its public drive-thru venues.
Most people currently hospitalized for coronavirus in Memphis are 30-55 years old and many have no underlying health conditions — a big shift from late March when the average patient’s age was mid-70s.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is launching its largest strategic investment in its nearly six decades in Memphis.
“Masking got us through the surge and out of the summer surge,” said David Sweat, deputy director of the Shelby County Health Department. “We will only make changes after thoughtful consideration at this point.”
Sullivan, Knox, Hamilton and Madison counties lift mask mandates; Davidson is waiting.
The pandemic will need to end before businesses shift gears to full recovery mode, according to Douglas Scarboro, regional executive with the Memphis Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, who said, “July 1 seems like a key revaluation point.”
Regional One Health earned the lowest marks for care and patient safety while Saint Francis-Bartlett and Methodist Olive Branch were the only four-star hospitals in the metro area.
Thirty-two years ago after quitting nursing school in her final semester, Penny Williams earned her RN degree in one of the first in-person commencement exercises in Memphis in more than a year.
The sweepstakes is open to any Shelby County resident who has received any coronavirus immunization, including those who have only received one shot.
Mayor Harris is gathering more advice this week, including hearing from the municipal mayors.
The City of Memphis is ready now to set up phone banks, dispatch street teams.
As St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital tested every front-line worker, every week, it put together a testing regime big enough to test and analyze hundreds of employee samples a day — providing a gold mine for immunology research.
FDA advisory committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday, May 12.
“There is a lot of talk about we won’t get herd immunity. It depends on the definition of what you describe.”
The mask mandate will be lifted in the new health directive, beginning Saturday, May 15.
In some ZIP codes, vaccination rates are less than half the rates in other parts of Shelby County.
Local health officer Dr. Bruce Randolph has said that the new rules will allow people to vote with their feet.