New COVID-19 map released by Health Department shows several neighborhoods in Shelby County are no longer hotspots

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Two Shelby County neighborhoods identified as COVID-19 hotspots have seen their case rates drop.

A rate is measured by comparing the number of COVID-19 cases to an area’s population.

Shelby County health officials are using the rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people to determine who is at risk and where the infection is spreading.

Yesterday, the zip codes for Downtown and Midtown Memphis and for the Barlett-Wolfchase area showed higher incidence of COVID-19 than other zip codes.

On Friday, new data showed the case rate had dropped.

The Health Department says the new map was generated using data as of 5/21/20.

"Rates there are still elevated, but not as high as the week before,” said Shelby County Health Department spokesperson Joan Carr.

Carr said that zip codes 38103, 38104 and 38133 had seen increased testing, which she attributes to the drop.

“More people are being tested than ever before, across the board, in all zip codes,” she wrote. “Almost 60,000 people in the county have now been tested. In the early days of the virus, only the sickest people could get tested, but now people with mild symptoms or even no symptoms are being tested.”

The map shows that 38118 is still a hotspot.