Tag: Alisa Haushalter

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Still on Call

Alisa Haushalter (Photo: Jackson Baker)

Some readers might wonder: Whatever happened to Alisa Haushalter? The former director of the Shelby County Health Department, Haushalter was, not so long ago, one of the most visible people in the public eye as department head at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

By one measure — the fact that she was publicly accountable and on call on a daily, even hourly basis — she may have been for a time the single most visible of all local officials. Not only was she at the helm of the health department and having to cope directly with the scourge of Covid, managing local responses to it as best as she could; she had the responsibility of communicating every aspect of the disease’s progress and every important piece of data relating to its impact on the community. It was 24/7 and then some.

It is certainly arguable that Haushalter herself was one of the chief victims in Shelby County of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her work as the director was hailed as exemplary then and later by her associates in the department and in county government at large.

But, simply because of the prominence of her position, she was caught up in various controversies that owed more to the inherent disruptiveness wrought by the pandemic than to any actions she was responsible for.

Consider this a tease for a forthcoming lengthier, and possibly eye-opening, treatment of Haushalter’s pivotal and arguably heroic service on behalf of Shelby County in a time of crisis. Suffice it to say for the moment that political pressures relating to state vs. local issues played a large role in her decision, in February 2021, to step down as health department director.

But her service to Shelby County has continued. When she came here in 2016, after years of health service, first in Nashville and later at the renowned Nemours health complex in Delaware, she had a request of then-County Mayor Mark Luttrell, who hired her.

For three years, while working in Nashville, she had gone back and forth between the state’s two largest cities working on her doctorate, which she got from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

“When I was in Nashville,” she recalls, “I had dual appointments. I taught at Vanderbilt, and I was at the health department there. So when I came here, part of my discussion with Mayor Luttrell was, ‘Can I have a dual appointment so that I’m still teaching?’” The answer was yes, and, while serving as health department director she taught health policy at UT. 

Her thinking was eminently commonsensible. “That really was sort of how I came back to Tennessee. You learn along with the students, and the students get to learn from someone who has experience, not just what they’re getting from reading the book. And so it has always been a good match.”

Upon leaving the department, Haushalter would expand her teaching load to include, currently, healthcare economics and population health.

She has never departed from the idea of service. She’s still very much here and on the case, keeping her hand in — learning, doing, and teaching. Aside from her regular students, she says, she’s still on call at the department. “There are team members over there that still reach out to me that I coach or mentor.”

Her bottom line: “I’m committed to public health, I’m committed to nursing and have spent decades doing that. And I’m committed to Shelby County.”

More about Alisa Haushalter to come. Stay tuned.

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Politics Politics Feature

Vaccine Crisis Politics: Commission Meeting Previews Next Year’s Election Divide

CREDIT: Jackson Baker

Not that it is, or should be, the most significant fact to emerge from last week’s COVID-19 debacle in Shelby County, but, all the same, it’s a fact: The 2022 county election has begun, with the sides  being chosen and the weapons weighed.

Much of that became obvious at a special called meeting of the Shelby County Commission on Friday, February 26th, when the 13 commissioners were given a chance to interrogate County Mayor Lee Harris regarding the Tennessee Department of Health’s charges of mismanagement of COVID-19 vaccination by the Shelby County Health Department, resulting in TDH’s yanking responsibility for allocating vaccines locally and reassigning that function to the city of Memphis.

In the course of two hours of tense and sometimes volatile questioning of Harris, who remained in his upstairs office and appeared virtually via webinar, the commissioners, most of whom were seated in their regular chamber seats in the auditorium of the Vasco Smith County Building, cleaved unmistakably along partisan lines. 

Jackson Baker

Four of the body’s five Republicans — Mick Wright, David Bradford, Amber Mills, and Mark Billingsley — directly challenged the county administration, with Bradford, Mills, and Billingsley questioning the leadership of Harris, a Democrat, and Wright demanding an accounting from Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter, who was absent from the session and, in fact, had, as Harris announced at the meeting, tendered her resignation that very day.

Harris — who declined, as he said, to engage in “navel-gazing”— kept a solemn mien as he stressed the need to “remediate” the situation, going forward, and fielded inquiries about the imbroglio and its details, including spoilage and subsequent wastage of an alleged 2,500 doses of Pfizer vaccine, the purported stockpiling of some 30,000 doses, unauthorized vaccination of children, possible theft of vaccine from the Pipkin vaccination site, and much more.

There were references in state documents to a “power struggle” between the county and Memphis city government over vaccine administration. Harris denied knowledge of any such development, but Billingsley reinforced that meme by lengthily extolling what he portrayed as Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland‘s filling a void with a display of “leadership.”

Bllingsley, a former commission chairman, is widely regarded as being a likely GOP candidate in 2022 to oppose Harris’ re-election. Another Republican known to be considering a race for county mayor next year is the well-connected Frank Colvett Jr., the current chairman of the Memphis City Council.

In normal circumstances, partisan differences on the county commission are not hard and fast, and allegiances are formed across party lines. (So are antagonisms: One of Harris’ persistent critics is Democratic member Edmund Ford Jr., who chimed in his discontent Friday along with the aforementioned Republicans.) But there was a drawing together on the Democratic side as well; Democratic Commissioners Van Turner and Reginald Milton rose to Harris’ defense on Friday with expressions of praise for his conduct of the mayoral office.

Turner even seemed to imply that the state’s action reflected a bias of Republican state government against Shelby County as a “step-child,” and noted that equivalent vaccine mishaps in Knox County had largely escaped censure by the TDH.

The current crisis will eventually be resolved or it won’t, but in the meantime it has offered a preview of a partisan divide, which may partially heal over but is bound to become more pronounced the closer we come to election year 2022.

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Shelby County Running Out of COVID-19 Vaccines

CREDIT: Shelby County Health Department/Facebook

Shelby County Health Department/Facebook

Shelby County Health Department nurse Janice Stahl, RN was first in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Nurse Stahl provides COVID-19 testing at the Collierville clinic and Shelby Farms clinic.

Shelby County is running out of COVID-19 vaccine doses and leaders here aren’t sure when they’ll get more.

Shelby County Health Department director Alisa Haushalter said Tuesday her department had received 12,000 doses from the state. The original amount of Shelby County doses was smaller. But two other areas of the state were not yet ready to receive their shipments and, when asked by state officials, Shelby County accepted them, bringing the total here to 12,000.   City of Memphis/Facebook

Dr. Alisa Haushalter, director of the Shelby County Health Department

In the first seven days, health care workers here administered doses to 9,500 people. The rest were to be given in the next week. It seems they have been, according to a statement from Haushalter Wednesday afternoon, and the county is running out.  

“We are currently administering the last doses in our first allocation of vaccine from the state,” Haushalter said in a statement. “We have made multiple requests for more vaccine. However, at this time, we have not received word from the state regarding when we will receive additional vaccine and how much we will receive.

“We are hopeful that this will change and that more information will be provided. When we receive additional information, we will provide updates. When we receive additional vaccine, we will distribute the vaccine following the phased criteria established by the state.

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City Council Supports Tougher Measures on COVID Restrictions

The Memphis City Council met virtually today to discuss the recent mandates on local business owners. The Shelby County Health Department has been vigilant about making businesses safer through health directives, and has cracked down on those who refuse to comply with the social distancing mandates.

As it stands, all non-essential businesses are strongly encouraged to stay closed from Dec 26th, 2020 – Jan 22nd, 2021. Retail business are to operate at 50 percent, and food businesses should operate at 25 percent capacity.

Council members seriously considered the issue of leaving many of the city’s restaurant and small business owners out of work, versus creating safer business environments through enforcing stricter mandates.

Shelby County Health Director Alisa Haushalter was an integral part of the conversation. “In an ideal world, given the amount of transmission nationwide, a national strategy is what’s needed. If there isn’t a national strategy, we need a state strategy,” said Haushalter. “And unfortunately we don’t have a state strategy and that’s in part because of a fundamental belief that local municipalities should make their own decisions,” she said.

City of Memphis/Facebook

Shelby County Health Department director Dr. Alisa Haushalter at COVID-19 Task Force briefing.


“If we put down a 25 percent on the restaurant, people are going to gather in their homes, and the odds of them not masking and socially distancing increases dramatically,” said Council Chair Frank Colvet. “Why can’t we consider 50 percent, if for no other reason that if people are still going to party, at least they will do it in a fairly safer environment.”

“Honestly, we’ve got people in the community that aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do,” said Councilman Worth Morgan. “They’re not asymptomatic; they’re having symptoms and continuing to go about their normal lives.”

“It’s not just where we are today, it’s where we anticipate being in January and February if we don’t reduce transmission,” continued Haushalter. She recommends sheltering in place for two incubation cycles, with fears that opening businesses where people can continue to socialize with their masks off will further delay the city’s progress. She said that the health department will take a look at the numbers in two weeks to see if the rate of exposure has decreased. If so, they will consider opening restaurants back up at 50 percent capacity.

The council weighed all of the options available, and when it came down to it, Councilmember Martavious Jones reiterated the severity of what could happen if the city doesn’t act. “Based on the information that [infectious disease specialist] Dr. Jain has presented us, we could have 100 percent more deaths. I’m going to ask you: which one of your loved ones do you want to sacrifice? There’s not a damn one that I want to sacrifice,” he said.

CDC

While many businesses have complied with the mandates, Morgan stated that the orders are simply an act of solidarity, and that the Council has no real say in what actually gets enforced.

“We’ve been getting a lot of emails, calls about the issues and because we’re voting on it, I think a lot of the public think we have a direct say in what’s in this directive. Whatever action we take this day is a support measure. It means absolutely nothing, to be perfectly honest in terms of what gets enacted and what doesn’t,” he said.

“As legislators as elected officials, we have to turn our attention to how we can help,” said Councilmember Rhonda Logan. “What can we do? What funds are available? What agencies are in place to help these business owners who may have to close or may have to pivot?”

As a show of solidarity and to support the restaurant industry, The Memphis City Council agreed to forego 75 percent of their council pay for the duration of this mandate, potentially as a gift to charity, or back to the city as grants to the restaurants. Their salary is about $30,000 a year, so one month of that is $2,500. 75 percent of that that would be $1,800, totaling to a little over $24,000 from all 13 members. They are prepared to continue giving for months if they must.



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New Stay-At-Home Order Lasts a Month After Christmas, Restricts Retail, Restaurants, Gyms

CREDIT: City of Memphis/Facebook

City of Memphis/Facebook

Shelby County Health Department director Dr. Alisa Haushalter at COVID-19 Task Force briefing.

Shelby Countians are asked to stay at home for four weeks after Christmas and businesses will be restricted in a new lockdown order issued Monday afternoon from the Shelby County Health Department.

The new order, Health Directive 16, is a Safer At Home order to be in place between Saturday, December 26th, and Friday, January 22nd. In it, all ”social activities related to entertainment and recreation should be curtailed.” These include “indoor receptions, parties, or events that are not related to places of worship, weddings, and funerals.”

Also, the new directive limits retail capacity to 50 percent. Indoor dining capacity is decreased to 25 percent. Capacity at gyms and fitness facilities are decreased to 50 percent, including staff.

The health department also issued a new face mask directive that clarifies that masks must be worn in gyms unless a customer has a medical condition. It also clarifies that masks must be worn in restaurants unless a customer is seated and “dining (eating/drinking).”

Here are comments from local leaders on why the new directive was set in place:

Alisa Haushalter
Director, Shelby County Health Department

“Health Directive No. 16 is necessary because in recent weeks, transmission of the virus has accelerated at an alarming pace. Over the past seven days, Shelby County has averaged more than 670 new cases per day and more than six deaths per day.

“Hospital ICU utilization in our region has exceeded 90 percent every day since December 7th. The influx of COVID-positive patients increasingly strains our healthcare systems. The Tennessee Department of Health reports that COVID-19 patients account for an average of 25 percent of all inpatient hospital beds and an average of 40 percent of all intensive care unit beds statewide.

“The influx of COVID-19 patients is putting a severe strain on our region’s healthcare systems. Continued spread of the virus threatens to overwhelm the healthcare providers we all depend on to provide needed care.

“The virus has the potential to spread exponentially across our state. Without the necessary statewide interventions, we have to turn to the tools we have at the local level. Unless we take reasonable action to reduce social gathering, we expect that January could have the highest numbers since the beginning of the pandemic.”

Lee Harris
Shelby County Mayor

”Although Shelby County has been one of the best at responding to COVID-19 in our state, Tennessee is on fire. If the state does not act with an effort to combat the current surge, we will have to do something at the local level. If we do not, the numbers we have seen recently foreshadow a very difficult January. The numbers we have seen recently mean lives could be at stake. We can summon the capacity to dig a little deeper and continue the course.”

Dr. Manoj Jain
infectious disease advisor to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland

“This virus is spreading at an exponential rate, and many of the infected patients that contract COVID-19 are requiring admission to our hospitals. Our systems are already under tremendous strain. We do not want to get to a point where we have no hospital beds available. Such a situation would affect all of us because anyone of us can have an emergency which may requires hospital care. Furthermore, our analysis shows that if no action is taken, then the number of daily deaths over the next several months will increase significantly.”

Dr. Jeff Warren
Memphis City Council member

“Our hospital capacity is under severe strain. We should do everything we can right now. These are tough decisions. I get that. However, people could die. We will get through this, but we are asking everyone to please practice the social distancing, wear a mask, and try to avoid social gathering for the next four weeks.”

Dr. Jon McCullers
Senior Executive Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs, University of Tennessee Health Science Center

“Although no one wants additional restrictions, we believe that at this point we have to do everything we can to remind the public of the importance of reducing social gatherings. That is our tool for slowing the spread. These additional restrictions show to me a very concerted effort to understand what is happening in our community right now and, with the limited tools available, what we might do to bring down the transmission rate.”

Michael Ugwueke
President & Chief Executive Officer
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

“Since the start of this pandemic, protecting the health and safety of our community has been our top priority. With the surge we have experienced over the past two weeks, I believe a return to Phase One is the best tool we have to protect the health and safety of those we serve. I support this as a necessary step based on COVID trends in our area. By working together and following proven infection prevention best practices, we can once again reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in our community, and hopefully we can spend time with our loved ones in the New Year.”

Sally Deitch
Chief Executive Officer
St. Francis Healthcare

“Though the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present unique challenges for everyone, it is important to us that you know we have the processes and protective supplies in place to provide care safely. The most effective safety measures we can take against COVID-19 continue to be wearing a mask, washing our hands, and maintaining social distance. These measures are important during the holidays as we continue to see a surge in COVID cases and hospitalizations. The Shelby County Health Department’s health directive will further encourage us all to do our part in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in our community.”

Dr. Reginald Coopwood
President and CEO
Regional One Health

“With coronavirus surging at a record pace in this community, Regional One Health joins with the other hospital systems who care for the individuals affected by this pervasive and ongoing pandemic. From our staff, nurses, and doctors, everyone is doing their part to continue to provide high quality care to our patients.

“High transmission of COVID-19 in the community has created the most challenging conditions we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic. As the Shelby County Health Department makes determinations to reduce the risks of COVID-19, our community must make a conscious and collective effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. I urge everyone to practice social distancing, wear your masks appropriately, and do not gather in crowds or with people outside your household. All must do their part to flatten the curve so that we can continue to provide the care our community needs.”

Here are some further details from the new health directive:

• Health Directive No. 16 strongly encourages employers to allow non-essential employees to work remotely (where feasible).

• All previously approved events that were to occur during the effective dates of this “Safer at Home” should reschedule their event or contact the Health Department to determine whether their event may still proceed.

• Businesses that provide goods or services exclusively through curbside service and pickup, drive-thru, shipment, delivery, or virtually may continue.

• Certain listed businesses, including some that provide services to customers on-site, may continue to operate (see number 9 beginning on page 4).

• Due to the risk of viral transmission, Health Directive No. 16 strongly discourages any on-site dining.

• All safety measures for individuals, services, and businesses that were in the previous Health Directive No. 15 will continue under the new Health Directive No. 16.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Independent Memphis Restaurant Owners Send Open Letter to Haushalter

Dr. Alisa Haushalter

A group of independent Memphis restaurant owners has released a letter to the media addressed to Alisa Haushalter, head of the Shelby County Health Department. The letter offers a number of suggestions for changes that would enable restaurants to better operate under COVID-19 conditions, and suggests that Memphis Restaurant Association has not adequately shared the “unique challenges” facing independent restaurants. The full text of the letter is below:

Dear Director Haushalter,

We hope that you, your family, and your colleagues are safe during these unprecedented and stressful times.

We understand the herculean task that faces you and your organization and we appreciate the thankless efforts you continue to make in your effort to keep Shelby County safe for everyone while keeping our industry and its workforce as sustainable as it can be.

We feel that the Memphis Restaurant Association leadership has not been willing or able to share with you the unique challenges facing the independent sector of our industry. Despite our many attempts to work with the MRA to develop a platform that represents the needs and positions of our independent owners and those in our employ, we have collectively made the decision to reach out to you directly to offer some insight as to what our thoughts and concerns are, and, if you’ll take it, an offer to be of assistance as you navigate this crisis in the upcoming months. We, like all business owners, want to keep our employees safe and financially secure, our guests safe and fed, and our businesses sustainable. We are eager to work with you so we can, together, achieve that goal. We’ve outlined our positions below.

We would like to get clear science based guidelines consistent with CDC recommendations and follow them.

We recognize the value of wearing masks and fully support the order that requires it. We also feel that promoting and adhering to the mask order is in fact being pro-small business.

While we support the occupancy restrictions placed on restaurants we would like you to explore the possibility of full service restaurants being able to utilize their bar areas to serve meals while adhering to the social distancing, alcohol restrictions and time restraint directives that are currently in place (even if more stringent than the regulations at tables). For some of us these bar areas constitute a large percentage of our available seating and are vital for our ability to remain open.

Regular testing is vital for our industry, as our contact with large amounts of people at distances closer than recommended is high. Our employees need to have access to same day testing appointments and same day results so we can utilize more effectively and fully commit to our role in the current county wide contact tracing program. A program we fully support.

We understand that following protocol set forth is the only way to see our businesses and the jobs they create and support (both internally and through the chain of supplies and entertainment that we symbiotically count on) survive.

We do not envy the position you are in and are all very much aware that the needs of your various constituencies can be quite different and sometimes contradictory. We do feel that we could be a strong asset to you when you do have to make decisions that affect our businesses and employees and our ability to fulfill our obligation to help keep the public healthy and nourished.

We are all in this together and we stand willing and eager to help you in any way that you may see fit.

Respectfully,

Anna Blair

Craig Blondis

Karen Carrier

Colleen DePete & José Gutierrez

Kelly English

Michael Hudman

Tina Jennings

Jaquila & Erling Jensen

Wally Joe

John Littlefield

Jonathan Magallanes

Michael Patrick

Tamra Patterson

Ronald Payne

Deni & Patrick Reilly

Roger Sapp

Rebecca & Jason Severs

Ben Smith

Bert Smythe

Andy Ticer

Bala Tounkara

Ryan Trimm

John Vergos

Felicia Willet

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Health Official: Virus Spikes Caused by Testing Surge, Delayed Lab Reports

CREDIT: City of Memphis/Facebook

City of Memphis/Facebook

Dr. Alisa Haushalter, director of the Shelby County Health Department during a recent briefing of the Memphis and Shelby County COVID-19 Task Force.

Recent high rates of the coronavirus in Shelby County were “alarming“ to many, health officials said here Tuesday, but the jumps were likely caused by high testing days and lags in reporting from laboratories.

More than 380 new cases of the virus were reported Friday, easily setting the record for the highest number of new cases reported in Shelby County in one day. The figure was over 200 on Saturday but was down to 44 on Sunday. The surge in cases made some, like County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, wonder if the county too quickly loosened restrictions on businesses and gatherings.

Dr. Alisa Haushalter, director of the Shelby County Health Department, gave many reasons for the spikes during Tuesday’s briefing of the Memphis and Shelby County COVID-19 Joint Task Force, but noted they “were alarming to many people.”

The state, for one, is now reporting probable cases of the virus. These cases include someone who has tested negative for the virus but who is connected to a known outbreak or virus cluster. The county is now beginning to report these probable cases in the overall number of new cases. There are now 16 probable cases of the virus here.

Extensive testing was done on June 15th and 14th, pushing the number of positive cases up, Haushalter said. Saturday’s high figure of new cases contained lab test results from 19 different days, she said, pushing the figure even higher.

Still, Haushalter said community transmission is happening and at a higher rate. The positivity rate needs to be under 10 percent, she said. The number pushed up over 11 percent over the weekend and has come back down since then.

Haushalter said the spikes in cases are not directly linked to the Memorial Day weekend holiday nor the protests against police brutality. She said people are simply out enjoying the warmer weather and are not wearing face masks. However, she did note an uptick of people wearing masks again.

For all of this, Haushalter said the county will remain in Phase II of the Back to Business plan “for the foreseeable future.” If the numbers continue to rise, the county runs the risk of returning to the more-strict Phase I of Back to Business but that’s not what task force members want, she said.

For now, the task force will focus on identifying clusters of new cases and addressing them. It’ll also work on emerging trends in the community that may serve as barriers to people not wearing masks or social distancing, Haushalter said. For example, she said someone may go to work sick if they worry they may get fired or could not pay their rent.

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Health Department Works to Contain Coronavirus, Says Risk for General Public Remains Low

Head of the Shelby County Health Department said Monday that 70 people are currently being quarantined after coming into contact with a Shelby County patient who recently tested positive for coronavirus.

The Shelby County Health Department confirmed Sunday that the first Shelby County resident tested positive for the coronavirus.

The patient is now in good condition and under treatment in isolation at Baptist Memorial Hospital, according to the health department. The patient had recently traveled out of state, but not out of the country. No further details about the case will be shared to protect patient privacy, the department said.

The patient in Shelby County is the third to test positive for COVID-19 in Tennessee.

Alisa Haushalter, director of the county health department said Monday that the department is currently working with the Shelby County patient and any others who may have come into contact with them.

Haushalter said anyone who had face-to-face contact with the patient for more than 10 minutes without the proper protective gear, more than 100 people, has subsequently been quarantined “out of an abundance of caution.”

The individuals must be quarantined for 14 days at home with no visitors following their last exposure.

“Quarantining denotes and creates a lot of fear,” Haushalter said. “People that are quarantined pose absolutely no risk to the public. … The goal has been to prevent COVID-19 from coming into communities. Once it’s in the communities, our second phase is containment, which is where we are in Shelby County.”

The department’s updates came at a joint press conference Monday with Shelby County Schools.

SCS said earlier Monday that a staff member assigned to Treadwell Elementary and Middle school had come into contact with an individual who had tested positive for COVID-19, and as a result has been placed on a 14-day cautionary quarantine.

Joris Ray, SCS superintendent, said “it’s critical that we fight fear with knowledge. The health and safety of our students, families, and staff members continue to be our highest priority.”

For now, Ray said there is no plan to close any SCS schools, until advised to do so by county health officials.

“As you know from previous inclement weather situations, closing schools is an extreme measure that can be disruptive for staff and families,” Ray said. “Let me be clear, at this time there has been no decision to close schools. All Shelby County Schools are open for learning and instruction.”

Ray continued: “We know right now there is a great deal of concern about the unknown. This is uncharted territory. My team is capable and developing a detailed response plan.”

Ray said SCS has formed an internal task force and policy group to respond to the “rapidly changing scenarios.”

Additionally, out of caution, Ray said SCS is suspending all school-sponsored international field trips for March and April.

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Haushalter said that there is currently no immediate risk to schools or the general public. However, the health department has advised the public to take simple steps to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses including COVID-19:

• Washing hands with liquid soap and water, and rubbing for at least 20 seconds, or using alcohol-based sanitizer if soap and water are not available

• Covering your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing

• Staying home if you are sick, especially with respiratory symptoms

• Regularly cleaning surfaces touched by many people

The CDC recommends older persons (60 and over) and those with underlying chronic health conditions should stay home as much as possible and avoid crowds. Wearing face masks is not necessary for the general public and may not provide protection from the virus.

Symptoms of COVID-19 range from mild to severe and include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Older adults and individuals with underlying medical conditions are particularly vulnerable to COVID-1.


The Shelby County Health Department has a webpage dedicated to COVID-19 on its website, which includes important information about the virus and steps individuals, businesses, and community organizations can take to control its spread.

The department has a hotline number (901-692-7523) for specific questions, requests for technical assistance, and requests for speakers at community meetings, and events. The number is staffed during regular business hours, Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. After-hour calls are returned on the next business day.