Friday update

Dr. Bruce Randolph, the county health officer, said yesterday that the health department received over 70 complaints about businesses violating COVID-19 guidelines this week. Enforcement will be out this weekend. Due to threats received face-to-face and on social media, enforcement officials will be escorted by Memphis police officers or Shelby County deputies. Dr. Randolph said the major things they will be looking for are

  • Employees or customers failing to wear their face masks
  • Groups failing to maintain 6 feet of distance
  • Crowding
  • Standing
  • Gathering
  • Smoking indoors
  • Whether the bar is open

If restaurant and bar owners are not sure whether an activity is permissible, Dr. Randolph advised them to read the latest health directive. Inspectors will have a checklist and will give the business a copy of the checklist before they leave. When violations are found, inspectors have the options of issuing a warning, closing the business immediately, or returning the next day to close the business.

Dr. Randolph also discussed the use of tents: If all of the flaps are down, making the space completely enclosed, then it falls under the health directive regulations that apply to indoor spaces. If the flaps are up and air can circulate freely, then the tent is classified as outdoors.

Dr. Randolph pointed out that a fully closed tent is actually a bigger health threat than a permanent, brick-and-mortar indoor space. The reason is that a tent does not have an HVAC system to keep the air circulating.

There were 695 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday in Shelby County. COVID Act Now numbers: 55.6 new cases/day/100K population (25 is considered the danger zone). Reproduction rate is 1.11 (needs to be below 1 for the virus to start dying out). Positivity rate is 13.7% (over 10% indicates insufficient testing, meaning many cases are going unreported).

Whether you are displaying symptoms, have possibly been exposed to someone with the virus, or are just curious whether you have it, testing is available this weekend for free, Saturday and Sunday 8:30 AM-5:30 PM at these locations:

  • Poplar Healthcare, 3495 Hacks Cross Rd.
  • Former vehicle inspection station, 1720 RKS Commerical Dr. near Lamar/Prescott/I-240

Dr. Randolph was asked if people who have already had COVID-19 should get the vaccine when it becomes available. His recommendation was yes, because it is not currently known how long one has immunity after having the virus.

If we get shut down again – or if we don’t, but you decide to stay indoors – here’s something to help you pass the time:

Very cool site I discovered recently: Google Keen. This is one of the projects they give engineers time and freedom to work on, kind of like the freedom Thomas Edison granted to those who worked in his lab. Keen is kind of like Pinterest, in that you can save items of interest (known as gems in Keen), and the format is very visual. However, the distinction from Pinterest is that Google uses its AI and goes out and finds similar items you may be interested in. You can create your own private or public Keens, and you can subscribe to other people’s public Keens. You can also set up a daily or weekly email digest from your Keens. I can see this becoming a valuable source of creative ideas.

Tom Lee Park construction groundbreaking: Watch on Facebook or YouTube. See the plans for the park here.

Paper & Clay has its grand opening today starting at noon and continuing through tomorrow. It’s in the former Harley-Davidson space at 525 S. Main.

The Memphis Fire Museum at 118 Adams is hosting Breakfast with Santa tomorrow from 8 AM to noon. Kids can get their picture made with Santa in a socially distanced setting, and there will be storytime, holiday movies, and tours of the museum. Cost is $15 per person. There are 8:15, 9:15. and 10:15 seatings for breakfast.

From WKNO: South Main businesses lend Santa a hand

From the CA: How the “stars aligned” to clean up Downtown Memphis during the pandemic

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are TIME’s 2020 Person of the Year.

The second edition of the 2020 Holly Jolly Holiday Celebration returns to Handy Park today 4:30-6:30 PM. Free hot chocolate, the music of the season, and pictures with a socially distanced Santa.

A government panel recommended the Pfizer COVID vaccine yesterday. As soon as the FDA signs off, the first doses will be distributed in days. It will be a few months before the average guy on the street with no complicating factors or high-risk job is able to get the vaccine. I plan on getting it as soon as I am able and I hope you will too.

That’s it for this post. Back tomorrow with more news.