Despite warnings from officials not to become too lax with social gatherings and distancing, Labor Day weekend celebrations have likely contributed to a spike in coronavirus infections in Shelby County.
On Thursday, there were a reported 293 new cases, the second time this week the new daily count has been more than 200. Health Department Director Dr. Alisa Haushalter says infections can take up to 14 days to appear because of the incubation period for the virus, which is why officials believe the holiday weekend played a role in the increase.
“Today was pivotal because we had almost 300 new cases,” she said at Thursday’s press conference. “Clearly, the data tomorrow and through the weekend is going to be significant.”
As the Labor Day weekend approached, officials hoped to avoid a repeat of Independence Day festivities, which they say contributed to a record number of COVID-related hospitalizations in the month that followed and the largest daily increases of new cases since the pandemic began.
Infections started dropping midway through August and testing capacity bounced back from a period of major backlogs.
Officials hinted earlier this week that limited service restaurants or bars might be able to reopen in some capacity due to improving numbers. But on Thursday, Haushalter said an announcement would not come until Monday, at the earliest, because of the need to monitor data over the weekend.
To make decisions about potential reopening, the Health Department is expected to reference a document that outlines “trip wires” or specific criteria triggering official action.
The week after the virus' incubation period is typically when hospitals start to feel the impact of an increase of cases, Haushalter said. As of Thursday, area ICUs were almost 90 percent full.
But even with recent elevated transmission levels, she doesn’t expect the same kind of fallout as earlier this summer because of more timely reporting of cases from labs and increases in health department staffing who can identify and quarantine individuals who may have been exposed to the virus.
“With all of that, my thoughts are that we won’t get to the place that we were in July,” she said.