Poplar Healthcare joined the battle against the coronavirus late, but now it’s leading the charge to help Memphis reopen and stay open.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris announced a “901 Student Passport” program, which allows free admission to museums for students who cannot partake in their normal field trips because of the pandemic.

The county Health Department loosened some of the restrictions regarding COVID-19 precautions, moves that will benefit sporting events and restaurants.

The Shelby County Health Department reported 258 new coronavirus cases and two related deaths on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

Almost every day, 15%-20% of the people in Shelby County who test positive do not respond to calls from the health department for contact tracing.

Trump’s doctor, Navy Cdr. Sean Conley, was also upbeat at an afternoon briefing but said the President will not be fully out of the woods for another week.

The Shelby County Health Department reported 95 new coronavirus cases on Monday, Oct. 5.

FedEx is hiring, buying freezers and working with pharmaceutical companies to plan a massive distribution effort for the coronavirus vaccine, in which Memphis is expected to play a crucial role.

After six months of coronavirus, the resulting losses are profound, but the stories these people tell are about going on, a process they find central to living with the unknown. 

The Shelby County daily positivity rate from Sunday is about 5.6% after 2,620 tests were administered. The Health Department reported seven new deaths.

From Sept. 19 to Saturday, Oct. 3, the Shelby County Health Department reported an average of 122 new coronavirus cases and 2,782 tests reported each day, yielding a 4.4% positivity rate. Those results included tests from people tested multiple times.

Overall, the Shelby County Health Department reports 31,840 coronavirus cases, 478 deaths and 30,050 cases classified as inactive/recovered. The active case count stands at 1,312, a decrease from the 1,452 reported Friday.

Staying open two more hours at night could make all the difference for bars that were closed for almost three months because of COVID, owners say.

Shelby County Commissioner Mick Wright said Friday he’d recently tested positive for the coronavirus and had just completed an isolation period. His wife was the only person exposed and has since tested negative for the virus.

The Constitution’s 25th Amendment spells out the procedures under which the president can declare himself “unable to discharge the powers and duties” of the presidency.

On Thursday, the Shelby County Health Department reported seven new coronavirus-related deaths. Friday, it reported six more.

Join Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris via Facebook Live today at 11 a.m. as they safely enjoy a restaurant lunch.

House Minority Leader Karen Camper criticized plans by House Speaker Cameron Sexton to kill the independence of Shelby County’s Health Department amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the next Health Directive, Dr. Bruce Randolph expects the Health Department will revise indoor and outdoor seating capacity for sporting events.

The Shelby County Health Department reported 78 coronavirus-related deaths in September.

And the month of October begins with seven new reported deaths due to COVID-19. 

Suburban mayors are waiting on Shelby County Health Department following Gov. Bill Lee’s most recent order, hoping for some consistency between the state and local regulations.

The Health Department also reported 78 new coronavirus cases.

The state is expected to get 133,000 of the new COVID tests — which deliver results in minutes, not days — in early October, and 2 million by the end of the year.