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Department of Health officials were at the scene of the All Black case at least twice on Saturday, November 28, the Hickory Hill holiday widely scorned on social media for what appears to be blatant abuse of the restrictions on the COVID-19.
Curtis Givens, the owner of In Love Memphis at 7144 Winchester Road where the party took place, is under investigation.
The first inspection took place around 3:45 p.m., when all appeared to be fine, said Dr Bruce Randolph, a doctor with the Shelby County Department of Health.
The party didn’t start until 4 p.m.
Inspectors returned around 8 p.m. and noted violations, including a lack of social distancing and the use of masks.
“It was in a tent outside. There was some confusion as to whether a tent is viewed indoors or outdoors, ”Randolph said.
“At that time, there had been no decision to close the establishment.”
The health department did not immediately respond to a question about why inspectors failed to realize that an outdoor party tent was not the same as an outdoor event.
“It’s really important to recognize that a closed tent, even if it’s in a parking lot or outside the normal structure of a building, is still an enclosed space,” said the director of health department Alisa Haushalter on Tuesday, December 1, COVID -19 task force briefing.
“And so it is treated as an enclosed space.”
The health department is working to corroborate testimonies and accounts from law enforcement about what happened, including the number of people at the scene.
The event was promoted for weeks on social media by Givens’ company GCI Entertainment. Party-goers could choose from three locations at the address, including the large “bubble” or the tent set up in the parking lot. It was attached by a catwalk to the interior room and to the patio.
Givens is a longtime owner of the Memphis club. He did not respond to requests for comment.
Randolph said Givens and In Love were cited in September for operating as a bar when those places were closed by a public health order. Givens then applied to operate as a full-service restaurant and was allowed to reopen.
In subsequent inspections, including on November 17, health inspectors found no violations.
The Ministry of Health’s own records show the club was cited on October 10. No violations in September were recorded, according to the Ministry of Health’s public registry of COVID inspections.
While people are good at reporting COVID-19 abuse to the health department, including photos, the health department needs testimonials it cannot get from photos.
“They are really considered hearsay,” Haushalter said. “We need to have corroborating evidence from an eyewitness at the event.”
But the photos help build a case, she said, noting that they must have a date stamp and information that identifies the location.
The health department worked with Givens to ensure daily operations are safe.
But a party as big as All Black Affair is considered a special event. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of cars were in the parking lot. The Department of Health should have been informed in advance of its review and technical assistance.
According to posts on Givens’ Facebook account, the bubble was a way around the restrictions by providing an outdoor venue.
According to photos on social media, the tent was fully closed. The distinction is important because many restaurants offer outdoor dining.
“Once you start zipping it up, putting plastic on and zipping it up, it really increases the risk of transmission,” Haushalter said. “Outside, it’s really outside, the air being able to circulate in the space without any barrier.”
The posture of the Department of Health has been to educate business owners first and apply penalties for the second offense.
In this case, part of the investigation is internal, Randolph said, including failures that may have contributed to the occurrence of the event.
“So please don’t interpret our lack of immediate response to your particular timeline as an indication that we don’t intend to do something,” he said. “We will respond.”
For months, Randolph has said that the legality of an event does not prevent people from using their own judgment on participation.
“We all have a role to play in preventing and controlling the transmission of this virus … Just because it’s open, you shouldn’t be going.”
“In the meantime, I mean to individuals, you have to exercise your judgment. For months we have characterized this virus. We have said over and over again how this virus is transmitted, things you can do to at least help prevent – it may not be 100% preventable – but reduce your risk of spreading the virus as well as getting infected. “
The thrust
Haushalter said that information from 303 contact tracing interviews in November shows that 76% continued to work while being contagious, nearly 40% continued to participate in social or public activities (such as shopping or going to a restaurant) and 3% continued to go to school.
“People keep going to work when they are infectious and pose a risk to others,” Haushalter said.
She said the average of cases over the past seven days was 361 cases per day, a slight decrease from the release of the 15 health directive on November 20.
“Our reproduction rate is around 1, a slight improvement,” she says. “We want it to be less than 1. The positivity of the test is greater than 10%. We want it to be less than 10%, but ideally less than 5%. “
Current statistics on the coronavirus
- 48,714 cases in total
- 609 new cases
- 672 deaths in total
- 3730 active cases
- The largest group infected, those aged 25 to 34, then 35 to 44.
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