MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Tough talk and strong warnings Tuesday from Shelby County health experts, with a new surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
The nearly 350 cases reported is the highest in two and a half months. Local health said the situation intensifies their concerns of a serious, second wave this fall.
"We are at a very significant moment in time," Shelby County Health Director Dr. Alisa Haushalter said.
Tuesday, Shelby County health experts didn't sugarcoat the seriousness and urgency.
"We can do this," David Sweat with the Shelby County Health Department said. "We've done this before. The problem is we lost our focus."
COVID-19 cases are rising and emerging in all corners of Shelby County - and with it - related hospitalizations.
"Hospital capacity, while we are not at capacity, we are strained," Dr. Haushalter said.
Tuesday, the 342 new cases marked the second highest total since August 8th.
In the past two weeks, the seven-day case average surged 62% and the 14-day average rose 49%.
"We would just challenge the public to go back to the basics," Sweat said.
Safety measures - such as social distancing - are increasingly important to stabilize rising local hospital cases, with more than 230 COVID-19 hospitalizations reported in Shelby County Tuesday.
That number wasn't expected or projected until next month.
"We didn't think we'd hit that number until mid-November, so what we are very concerned is that we need to get everybody to recommit to wearing a mask," Sweat said.
The COVID-19 news is also troubling across the entire state of Tennessee.
The Volunteer State is now in the "red zone" for its COVID-19 cases per capita, currently the 16th highest in the United States, along with the 11th highest overall positivity rate.