Hey, guys, happy Friday!
It’s April 17, and today, emergency loans for a dozen Downtown businesses — including institutions such as A. Schwab and the Peanut Shoppe — will be considered by the Center City Development Corp.
THE NEED TO KNOW
A flat demand curve: Local leaders say expanded testing is the key to keeping the coronavirus at bay, and they are increasing testing sites and facilities all over the area and the state. But, in a surprising twist, actual demand for testing has not kept pace. After weeks (early on) when people couldn’t get tested, now there are more tests than people who want to get them. Yesterday, David Waters explained the disconnect.
A long, hot simmer: As it stands right now, every one person infected with coronavirus in Tennessee is infecting about one other person — and that’s pretty good news. The state needs a transmission number below one and it needs to keep it that way over a “sustained period” to slow the epidemic. A new analysis suggests that Tennessee could settle into a “simmer,” in which the number of hospitalizations are stable but continue on. However — and this is the danger — if the transmission number increases above one, the number of hospitalizations would rise again, too.
Death and data: The Shelby County Health Department said yesterday that at least 80% of COVID-19 patients who have died had heart conditions and 33% had diabetes. There have also been more than 1,000 local cases in minors, 68% of whom are black, data that continues to show the virus’ disparate impact on African-Americans.
A bad bottom line: Earlier this week, St. Francis said it would furlough almost 250 workers, effective Monday. With elective surgeries banned and the number of injuries and other sicknesses lessened, all of the area’s hospitals are feeling the pain of reduced revenues — even while COVID-19 is creating an all-hands-on-deck situation. Says one health care exec: “The real high-dollar stuff — knees, eyes and colonoscopies — those procedures are just not happening.” Skyrocketing costs for protective gear aren’t helping, either.
WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
Mike Conley wins the NBA’s HORSE contest. Some people are also talking about the size of Conley’s home gym ...
THE NICE TO KNOW
Greener pastures: Had he decided to go to college, high school basketball player Jalen Green would have picked the University of Memphis. As it happens, Green, a guard from California, decided to enter the NBA’s G-League instead. Green had been U of M coach Penny Hardaway’s top target from the Class of 2020, and for nearly two years, it was assumed Green would join the Tigers. (But perhaps we were assuming the one-and-done rule was still a thing.) As Geoff Calkins writes, this and other recent Tigers-related developments are “starting to take their toll.” And he has a specific photograph to prove it.
Pedal to the metal: A while ago, we mentioned that MIFA’s Meals on Wheels program would cease daily deliveries while we all rode out the epidemic. But that hasn’t slowed MIFA down. In the last month, the organization has delivered 55,000 meals — 17,000 more than they usually do in a given month. “Despite our worries about funding,” writes MIFA’s president today, “we decided to order more meals and more boxes to put them in.”
Alone together is still alone: There has been talk — you might have heard it — about why liquor stores would be classified as “essential” and be able to remain open during this chaotic time. Although, now that I think about it, most of that talk came at the beginning of our Safer at Home order.… A Mid-South psychiatrist says almost 12% of people in Shelby County already engage in heavy drinking, and there is concern that the current furloughs and isolation will bump that number up. In this case we can all do something, just by checking in with our friends.
Set sail: A new river cruise ship is slated to dock in Memphis in 2022. A custom vessel, the Viking Mississippi, will lead the company’s expansion into the Mississippi River cruise market.
WE’RE ALSO TALKING ABOUT
The guy from Laid Off Lawn Care already had his new tools stolen. But, then Memphians stepped up to help him reorder them.
Have a great weekend, guys, and stay safe. The Early Word will return Monday.