Independent data analyst James Aycock posted his COVID Week-in-Review a day early, and the outlook for Shelby County is very, very bad. The 7-day rolling average of the number of new cases per day is skyrocketing, now at 559 cases per day. That works out to 60 cases/day/100K, once again above the threshold of 50 at which the CDC recommends even fully vaccinated people mask in public indoor spaces.
If it makes you feel any better, New York County, New York (Manhattan) is at an astronomical 247 cases/day/100K. So it could be worse here. Unfortunately, I’m afraid it soon will be.
Shelby County’s mass COVID testing sites will be closed today and Sunday. I mean, I get it, it’s Christmas, but wow that timing is terrible.
The Little Rock Central High basketball team got a nice surprise in their Christmas gift bags this week: tickets to the Memphis Grizzlies vs. the Chicago Bulls in the annual MLK Day game. Central High drew national attention in 1957 when it desegregated.
The Memphis Tigers have been declared 2021 Hawai’i Bowl champions by forfeit. It apparently doesn’t count as a 7th victory for the season, though.
The Brass Door is closed until 2022.
Not only is it Christmas Day, but it’s also National Pumpkin Pie Day.
Bardog will open at 5 today. Over on Beale Street, Alfred’s and B.B. King’s will also open at 5.
I’m joining friends for Christmas dinner, then I will be out this evening. I thought about not posting today but decided the link to James’ summary was important enough that it couldn’t wait a day. Y’all be careful out there, especially those of you who are not vaccinated. Merry Christmas and I’ll be back tomorrow with more news.