For Memphis’ first COVID patient, early pandemic was personal
Marilyn Davis, pictured on Feb. 28, 2025, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, was the first COVID-19 patient in Shelby County. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
After midnight on March 12, 2020, the exit hallway at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis echoed with a hollow emptiness.
Every door was closed and the shades drawn so Marilyn Davis could be discharged and inconspicuously rolled out the back door to an ambulance idling at the curb.
Every inch of the ambulance’s interior was covered in plastic, and the hospital team with her was shrouded from head to toe in hazmat gear.
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Marilyn Davis Dr. Stephen Threlkeld Dr. Cary Finn Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Jane Roberts
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.
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