Tennessee’s Health Department announced on Friday, March 19, that the state would open vaccinations up to all adults. 

Clever restaurateurs, fearless city planners and far-sighted entrepreneurs didn’t let 2020 slow them down. And if we needed reasons to cheer, we had Ja Morant and Brady White. 

That compares to 104 deaths reported in October and 88 deaths reported in November.

Beginning today, funeral workers can begin getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Watch the Shelby County Health Department’s COVID-19 Task Force briefing live.

The Tennessee Health Department adds elderly to vaccine priority list in 10-year swaths, starting with those 75 and older. 

They’ll be able to get their shots during the same phase as Tennesseans ages 75 and above — and before those in the 65-74 age bracket.

According to the Tennessee Healthcare Resource Tracking System, 93% of area ICU and area acute care beds were in use.

As the Shelby County Health Department’s Dr. Bruce Randolph said yesterday, if you’re not listed as open in the latest health directive, you should be closed.

Those qualified to receive vaccines are to register on app, bring badge or employee ID to test sites.

The number of COVID-positive patients in area hospital beds hits a new high for the pandemic.

Watch here live as Shelby County’s COVID-19 Joint Task Force takes on the latest with the virus and the vaccine. 

The theater company based in Overton Square worked with Regional One to create “From the Frontlines of COVID-19,” a series that gives a virtual stage to some of the health care providers who are getting us through a crisis.

Two drive-thru stations have a combined capacity to vaccinate 3,000 people a week.

The 305 new cases come from almost 2,000 tests, giving the day a positivity rate of 15.6%.

Among other things, the CARES Act eliminated the 10% early withdrawal penalty for individuals under the age of 59½. But one-third of any money withdrawn will be included as income on taxes for each of the next three years

Movie theaters are not mentioned in the most recent health directive, but Malco was told it would have to close. DeSoto County locations remain open.

Shelby County reported 1,395 cases between Saturday and Sunday. The report included data from two days as data reporting was delayed due to the Christmas Day explosion in Nashville.

The COVID-19 vaccines now becoming available offer the hope of curtailing the pandemic, but may not be available to the masses for months — and not all automatically trust that the vaccine will be safe. 

From Dec. 11 to Friday, Dec. 25, the Health Department reported an average of 765 cases a day and 6,510 test results a day with a 11.8% positivity rate. Eight of the 10 highest daily increases of new cases occurred in this period.

New Shelby County coronavirus data will be included in Sunday’s update, according to an email from the Health Department.

Memphis is lit. Well, at least its fireplaces and backyard fire pits are. More people are staying home for longer periods of time during the pandemic, and that has created demand for seasoned firewood.

Shelby County’s hospital beds are filling up even though the county has one of the lowest new case rates in Tennessee, according to a New York Times database.

Friday’s 619 cases come from 4,909 tests, giving Christmas Day a positivity rate of 12.6%. 

First-time users accounted for 85% of campaign ride redemptions, growing the service’s new use rate by 263%.