In the next week or two, the Shelby County Health Department will have a better idea of how well people behaved over the holiday weekend. That is: did they stay at least six-feet away from others, not share communal items and wear face masks in public?
It can take up to two weeks before someone exhibits symptoms of Covid-19, which is why for the moment, Health Officer Bruce Randloph can be cautiously optimistic that people largely complied with health recommendations over the holiday.
“At least when I went into stores, I saw most people—if not all—who had on facial coverings and masks,” he said.
At Tuesday’s daily press briefing, Randolph didn’t note any complaints about people tossing aside warnings about social distancing, although The Health Department is still waiting for the Memphis Police Department to report on crowd violations.
Still, Health Director Dr. Alisa Haushalter worries people are letting their guards down. Shelby County averaged a higher number of new cases over the past several days, which she said was partly due to some targeted testing, but the risk of transmitting the virus increases as people get active again.
“I do think there’s some lapse in social distancing, particularly as the weather has gotten warmer,” she said.
Even within households, Haushalter said, people need to take precautions to curb transmission and separate from family members who become ill.