MEMPHIS, Tennessee —
In Friday's Ransom Note: The public's right to know.
Obviously, it's a topic I feel pretty passionately about, and most reporters will tell you they feel the same way. Although there are times when those who do what I do don't always appreciate when information needs to be kept secret. But a pandemic isn't one of them.
For the life of me, I don't understand why the Shelby County Health Department isn't more open with the taxpayers who keep it open. Love him or hate him, every day New York's governor is out there with charts and graphs, telling the public all kinds of data. But not Shelby County.
First it wouldn't give out basic information about a patient, including age or gender. Then it refused to share the number of people tested. Now they won't say how many patients are in the hospital or how severe the cases are.
The Daily Memphian did some legwork and found 65 patients in area hospitals with COVID-19. 36 are in ICU and 25 on ventilators. It's good to know that so far they're doing ok and can handle it. Thankfully hospitals were willing to share. Hopefully the health department will be too.