MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In Wednesday’s Ransom Note: we're not out of the woods yet. Yes, COVID-19 cases are way, way down, and we are doing so much better overall, but in many states with high numbers of unvaccinated folks, cases of COVID are climbing.
The CDC reports Arkansas ranks third in daily cases per capita now and third in people hospitalized with COVID. Mississippi ranks 9th and 17th in the same categories. And get this: Tuesday Arkansas' governor said of the nearly one thousand people who've died from COVID since Mid-January, 99% of them were unvaccinated. The big concern is this Delta variant, which we've told you is 60% more contagious than anything else we've seen, and doctors fear given Shelby County's location, we may see a surge too.
“The place where we are is sort of the center of the funnel of decreased vaccination numbers and because of that, we would certainly be in the crosshairs for what or if any surge or increased number of cases we would be seeing,” explained Dr. Steve Threlkeld with Baptist Memorial Hospital. Dr. Threlkeld says new health restrictions may be necessary if that happens. The vaccine is the one thing we know that works. Even if you still get the virus if you've been vaccinated, you won't get seriously ill. If you haven't yet, get the shot. Join the conversation by email (rransom@localmemphis.com), Facebook, or Twitter.