Community

The Shelby County Health Department is committed to providing our community with the most accurate information about Coronavirus Disease 2019, known as COVID-19. This includes the most current Health Directive from The Shelby County Public Health Department, frequently asked questions, and other resources.

Stay up-to-date with the latest health directives for Shelby County by clicking here.

The Shelby County Health Department is committed to providing our community with the most accurate information about Coronavirus Disease 2019, known as COVID-19.  The number changes daily and is on the incline.

You can find the most up-to-date numbers by clicking here.

Yes. If you feel you need to be tested, appointments are available across Shelby County for free COVID-19 testing. If you suspect that you have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 and are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms, please call your healthcare provider, the Shelby County COVID-19 hotline: 833-943-1658, or contact one of the available testing sites to make an appointment.

Do call a doctor’s office or healthcare center for COVID-19 testing prior to arriving to confirm whether you need an appointment. If you intend to visit an emergency department for testing or treatment do call ahead to notify them first.

Preventing flu is important because it is possible to get sick with the flu and COVID-19 at the same time which could lead to a more serious illness because your body would be weakened. While the flu shot does not prevent COVID-19, its protection against flu can make a COVID-19 infection less severe.

For both the flu and COVID-19, the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions are more susceptible, but because the flu also impacts children and spreads readily in schools, it is important for people in all age groups to get a flu vaccine.

Yes. COVID-19 can be spread by asymptomatic people — those who do not have symptoms and may not even know that they are infected. That’s why it’s important for everyone to wear masks in public settings and practice social distancing (staying at least 6 feet away from other people).

Yes. Masks are recommended as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the mask coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice. This is called source control. This recommendation is based on what we know about the role respiratory droplets play in the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, paired with emerging evidence from clinical and laboratory studies that shows masks reduce the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth.

Coronavirus is spread mainly from person to person, through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. These droplets can land in the mouths or noses of people who are nearby or possibly be inhaled into the lungs. Spread is more likely when people are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet). By maintaining at least 6-feet away from others, you reduce your risk of contracting Coronavirus, or spreading it to others if you have been infected.

People with certain medical conditions like diabetes, heart disease and respiratory illness have an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. When an individual with any of these underlying conditions contracts COVID-19, their preexisting condition, or “comorbidity,” increases the chances of severe symptoms and even death.

In Shelby County, 94% of deaths related to COVID-19 have had a preexisting condition — or comorbidity. People of any age with the following conditions are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19:

• Heart Conditions
• Diabetes
• Respiratory illness like COPD
• Obesity
• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease
• Sickle  Cell disease
• Immunocompromised patients (weakened immune system)

Learn more at cdc.gov