This was a short press conference and a lot of what was said was repeated from Tuesday’s.
Reporters did, however, ask about limited-service restaurants. Limited-service restaurants and bars were allowed to reopen in Nashville on Monday with a capacity of 25 people, and Shelby County Health Officer Dr. Bruce Randolph was asked if something similar was being considered for Shelby County. He replied that due to litigation issues, he could not comment. He said that as the Health Department looks at the data, they will let it drive decisions relating to some return to normalcy.
In a followup question, Dr. Randolph stressed that they look at data over two-week periods because 14 days is the incubation period of the virus. The data is currently looking good, he agrees, but he doesn’t want us to get so excited that we act too soon and end up right back where we started. We want to make sure, Dr. Randolph said, the downward trend is steady and that we get where we are going. Changes will be dictated by the data, but it is not time yet to say what those changes will be or when they will be implemented.
Health Department Director Dr. Haushalter stressed that we are in marathon mode – the coronavirus is here and we must learn to live with it. The immediate goal is to make sure children can get back to school and people can get back to work. Once those goals are met we will look at loosening further restrictions. We want to get below 10% positivity, but once there we want to getting to 5% to drive down community transmission.
Regarding spectators for sporting events, the health department’s current regulation is 50% of capacity, with 12 feet of distance (18 feet inside) and masking. Dr. Randolph said that these regulations can change as new data comes in, and to look for an updated Health Directive No. 11 next week. (Added by Paul: Or 4:59 PM Friday of this week?)
A reporter noted that flu shots are available. Haushalter encouraged everyone to get vaccinated for flu as soon as possible. It is not yet known how flu and COVID will interact, but if you catch both, you will be more likely to get sick.
Haushalter noted that 55% of COVID-19 cases in the county are among those aged 18 to 45. That group does not experience a high number of complications or deaths, but they are capable of transmission to high-risk groups.
There was some misunderstanding of who is responsible for investigation of cases in schools. Haushalter stressed that tracing and notification is the sole purview of the health department; only the health officer or his designees can issue an isolation or quarantine order. Of course, the department does work with the schools to define who was in proximity of an infected person.
That led to a followup question about who in a school would be considered exposed. Dr. Randolph said the current standard is that they were within 6 feet of someone infected for 10 minutes or longer.
With regards to releasing information about COVID-19 in schools, Haushalter said there is a need to balance privacy of children with a need to get out information of interest to the public at large. Haushalter said in the case of a public threat, a public announcement would be made.
Those were the major points made. Back tomorrow with more news.