Let’s get the daily news out of the way, and then we’ll get on to the summary of yesterday’s COVID-19 task force press conference, which turned in an unexpected direction.
From The Daily Memphian: A pizza shack in Wiseacre has familiar folks behind it. Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman will operate Little Bettie. The kitchen opens today and will serve New Haven-style pizza (no puffy edge), chicken wings, onion rings, Sicilian pizza, pretzel bites, and a few salads.
The article alludes to a couple of other specials happening at Andrew Michael restaurants Downtown:
- Burgers and burgundy at Bishop on Mondays
- Takeout pizza kits and $1 oysters at the Gray Canary on Thursdays
Hot wing food truck New Wing Order now has its own YouTube channel.
The Memphis Flyer has a Q&A session with the owner of new pizza joint Slim and Husky’s out in The Edge District. They have build-your-own pizzas and gourmet cinnamon rolls.
Pontotoc Lounge closed for the time being on Sunday, leaving popular Sunday brunch bartender B-RAD without a gig. Good news: He will join his longtime partner-in-crime Joe behind the bar at Atomic Rose on Sundays. Go see them for brunch and stick around for Pattie O’ Furniture’s drag bingo.
The Memphis Tigers have a new craft beer partner. Tiger Tail, a new craft beer from Grind City Brewing, will be the official craft beer of Tigers athletics. A portion of the sales of Tiger Tail will go to the athletic department, an important additional revenue stream during COVID. Also, a scholarship will be created.
UT president and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd has joined the Memphis Redbirds ownership group.
COVID-19 task force press conference
We had been told to expect a new health directive this week, probably with even tighter restrictions on the department’s favorite whipping post, restaurants. Instead, the health department punted the ball over to the mayors.
Dr. Haushalter reminded everyone that they look at four main areas of concern when deciding if restrictions need to be imposed. The first is the data concerning the virus itself.
- 7-day rolling new case average of 670
- 14-day rolling new case average of 558
- Reproductive rate is 1.08
- 5434 active cases in the county, each with the potential to infect 1.06 people
- Positivity rate 12.1%
- We are now seeing a surge related to the Thanksgiving holiday
- The surge is a predictor of what we can expect to see over the Christmas holiday
The second area of concern is testing. We have a ton of free testing right now (NONE of which, I’ll point out, is convenient to people in the Downtown core) and anyone who wants a test is encouraged to get one. Testing sites
The third area is hospital capacity. Dr. H says we need to ensure that people who need treatment, including non-COVID treatment, are able to receive it. They are looking at ways for students in the pharmacy, medical, and nursing fields to be trained to assist and to receive credit for duties performed.
The fourth area is public health capacity. The health department is working with the labs to make sure positive tests are reported quickly, allowing them to get people affected into isolation and quarantine early.
Dr. Bruce Randolph, County Health Officer, took the podium. He pointed out that Health Directive No. 15 included tripwires – numbers that, when hit, indicate certain actions can be taken. We have hit the tripwire of 650 new cases/day. However, he said, “Fellow citizens, it’s up to you as an individual. Up to you to make sure to avoid crowds. That you mask when in a restaurant.” (A sign that restaurants would still be open.) The health department’s position is that they feel they have done all they can short of a drastic measure like a return to Safer at Home.
Dr. H came back up. She said they are drafting new Health Directive No. 16 with a focus on clarifying language in Directive 15, as well as clarifying certain types of events. However, she said, the urgency to release the directive is not as great as people thought. It may not be issued this week.
Dr. Randolph: Safer at Home was issued by the mayors. He said the health department views public health as the intersection of health and policy – specifically, politics. The health department does not make policy. They would recommend Safer at Home to the mayors if the average number of new cases a day hits 750, but public officials will have to endorse it.
I love the decision. It punts the ball over to Mayors Strickland and Harris, both of who hate to appear to be the bad guy. (Have you noticed they only show up to the task force press conferences when there’s a piece of good news to report?) It stops short of closing restaurants to indoor dining, when they aren’t even the major cause of spread (going to work sick is).
Dr. H said there was enforcement of the current health directive this past weekend, and 6 more businesses were closed. WREG has the list.
WREG also reports that Shelby County Commissioners have called a special meeting for today to vote on whether to institute a $50 fine on people not wearing a mask. I fully support this. View the proposed ordinance
That’s it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.