Memphis-area hospitals hit record number of COVID-19 patients as third-wave intensifies – Commercial Appeal

COVID hospitalizations in Shelby County hits 'unfortunate milestone'

Shelby County reaches 'unfortunate milestone' with COVID hospitalizations

Nate Chute, Wochit

Memphis-area COVID-19 hospitalizations hit a new record this week when the region reached 700 people hospitalized with COVID-19 for the first time.

The Shelby County Health Department released the sobering data point Thursday. There were 515 people with COVID-19 in acute care beds and 186 in intensive care units on Wednesday, according to hospital data.Data showed 10 remaining staffed intensive care units in the Memphis metro area.

"We've reached an unfortunate milestone," Doug McGowen, the city of Memphis chief operating officer and task force member, said of the hospitalizations.

The numbers reflected single-digit growth from a week earlier when 173 people were in the ICU and 473 people in acute care beds.The rate of hospitalizations, McGowen added, is expected to increase in the weeks to come.

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The new record comes 10 days after the heads of Memphis emergency rooms wrote local leaders a letter that said they could soon have to triage care based on the probability of survival. Their letter asked the Shelby County Health Department to enact a mask requirement and the county complied an indoor mask mandate started last Friday.

The level of hospitalizations in Memphis continues to make projections come true. Projections from the joint task force show that 1,040 people could be in the hospital on Sept. 1. To get there, Memphis would simply stay on the trajectory it is on now, according to data shared with the joint task force and obtained by The Commercial Appeal.

The projections also estimate 285 people could be in intensive care units by Sept. 1, an increase of about 100 people and reflecting more than 50% growth from Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear how much additional hospitalization growth local hospitals could sustain without being forced to implement crisis standards of care.

In the latest surge, cases among children continue to stay elevated compared to previous surges.

Currently, pediatric cases of COVID-19 make up 32.5% of all active COVID-19 infections in Shelby County, according to Shelby County Health Department Director Michelle Taylor.

The total of kids 17 and under with an active COVID-19 infection has surpassed active cases in the 18 to 24 category, another pandemic first.

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The delta variant has put more children in Le Bonheur Children's Hospital than previous strains of the virus. As of Monday, 28 children are patients at Le Bonheur. Seven of those patients are receiving treatment in the intensive care unit. Two children are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

In mid-August, Dr. Nick Hysmith, thedirector of infection prevention at Le Bonheur, expressed some level of hope that cases among children would level-off once vaccinations increased and mask mandates in Shelby County Schools were enacted.

At the time of Hysmith's remarks, there were eight fewer children in the hospital than there are today. And since his remarks, one child has succumbed to COVID-19.

Taylor could not definitively say whether Hysmith's hopes have materialized. Raw hospitalizations numbers among children suggest it hasn't.

The current amended health directive is set to expire on Aug. 31. When asked if the county could expect to see additional restrictions in the next health directive, Taylor said it was unlikely.

Previous restrictions have included limits on crowd capacity in restaurants and bars in order to uphold physical distancing.

For now, Taylor said, the county will continue to lean on masking, urging residents to follow Centers for Disease Control and Preventionguidelines, and urging the public to get vaccinated.

As of Thursday, just 39% of the entire population of Shelby County, a figure that includes children too young to be vaccinated, are fully inoculated against COVID-19.

At least one mass vaccination site at the Pipkin building in the Mid-South Fairgrounds will now stay open until the wintertime, McGowen said.

As the delta variant of COVID-19 continues to drive record infections, more residents are seeking testing. This, McGowen acknowledged Thursday, has led to longer wait times in acquiring tests, and longer turnaround times for test results.

To meet testing demand, testing sites are increasing their capacity; it is too early to know if the measures will be sufficient for the number of Shelby County residents seeking to know their COVID-19 status.

The locations set to increase testing capacity are:

A list of all community testing locations can be found on the city's website.

Samuel Hardiman covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by email at samuel.hardiman@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter at @samhardiman.

Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.

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Memphis-area hospitals hit record number of COVID-19 patients as third-wave intensifies - Commercial Appeal