Health professionals closely monitoring COVID-19 variants in Shelby County as the Health Directive lifts further restrictions

Memphis, Tennessee (WMC) —— The numbers continue to decline. There are more than 400 active COVID-19 cases in Shelby County, the lowest since the first month of the pandemic.

This weekend, a new health directive will come into effect, relaxing more rules on masks and business.

The new Health Directive does not require you to wear a mask in public, whether or not you are vaccinated, unless your business requires it. Approximately a month after the mask obligation was first relaxed, 71% of adults in the county have some immunity to COVID-19, so the number of cases is heading in the right direction.

“We have come a long way as a community,” said David Sweat, Deputy Director of the Shelby County Health Department. “We have moved from where 937,000 people are susceptible to the virus to where 71% of adults are now uninfected and 15% of children are uninfected.”

The number of cases has declined, with only 33 COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday through Thursday, and Shelby County Health Authority maintains a course to publish new health directives every two to four weeks. Health Directive 22 will come into effect this weekend, approximately four weeks after the current Health Directive, which lifted mask obligations and some business restrictions.

Health Directive 22 states that people who are vaccinated unless they visit a business that requires vaccination, public transport, a courtroom required by a judge, or real estate owned by a public institution. Or, we do not require masking for unvaccinated people.

“If you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, and if you feel you can wear it more safely, do so,” Sweat said. “Wear a mask. Relaxing these requirements does nothing to prevent you from protecting yourself in the way you want.”

It also further relaxes the business protocol. Regular disinfection is only the recommended method, such as signing that you will not enter the company if you are ill.

However, the community may be susceptible to new variants prevalent in the United States Over the past few months, new variants of COVID-19 have caused havoc in India.

The Shelby County Health Department reports a “small number” of cases involving the Delta subspecies. The latest was reported only on Wednesday.

Vaccinations are starting to increase, and powerful sequencing programs at local laboratories have helped prevent outbreaks, at least for now.

In May, a cluster of variants was crushed in Shelby County after someone returned from India with it.

“We have more robust sequencing capabilities than most American communities, and certainly the Tennessee community,” Sweat said. “In more cases in Memphis and Shelby County, the virus is sequenced so we know the version of the virus.”

Health leaders in Shelby County say that the Delta variant is even more contagious than the predominant British variant of B117. Currently, over 71% of adults have some form of immunity, but for these highly contagious variants, herd immunity may require immunity in a larger population, health experts say. Explains.

“Probably about 85% of the population needs to have immunity to say that it is the herd’s immunity to the virus, because it is very easily transmitted,” Sweat said. Stated.

Daily vaccinations are increasing in Shelby County. On average, more than 1,500 people shoot each day. This has increased by about 500 people per day in the last two weeks.

The city of Memphis has attributed some of its success to the ongoing field team campaign.

Doug McGowen, COO of the City of Memphis, said:

The Pipkin Building will be the only fixed public vaccination site in July and will be closed on 31 July. Public vaccinations will then be transferred to the city’s emergency management building on Avery Avenue for the rest of the summer.

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