Category: Announcements

Executive Order extending State of Emergency by Mayor Jim Strickland, City of Memphis

Latest information:

In today’s update, I want to take a step back and focus on some of the positives.

Over the weekend, Home Depot donated masks to our first responders. Today, Memphis’ own Radians is donating 14,000 more masks to Memphis and Shelby County Government. This is a prime example of Memphians helping Memphians during a critical time, and I can’t thank them enough for stepping up.

If there are others in community who want to help by donating personal protective equipment (PPE), please email me at mayor@memphistn.gov.

Whether it’s been the federal, state or local government, we’ve all been telling you for days what you can’t do.

Today, I want to remind you of what you can do.

• Donate blood—schedule an appointment with the American Red Cross or Vitalant today.
• Support our local restaurants. This is a great list of them offering curbside and delivery service.
• Take a walk in your neighborhood (assuming it’s not pouring down rain).
• If you’re working from home and you have a family, a pet, or just you — enjoy the time you have (this won’t last forever).
• Foster a pet from MAS or fill out this form to be on-call for any emergency foster needs that may arise.
• Run some errands for an elderly relative or a neighbor.
• Read a book you’ve been wanting to explore.
• Catch up some of your favorite podcasts.
• Finish those home repairs you been putting off because you didn’t have the time.
• Take time for reflection, and set new goals for the rest of the year.
• Contribute to the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund at the Community Foundation. To donate online, visit cfgm.org/COVID
  Remember, we are all in this together, and it will take all of us to get through it. Please do not take the Safer at Home Executive order lightly. Following it is extremely important, but also remember it is only temporary.

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Daily Update: March 24, 2020

COVID-19 Cases
Shelby County Residents: 135
Tennessee Total Cases: 667*
*As of 2:00 p.m. 3/24/20
Other Jurisdictions:

Tipton County, TN: 6
Desoto County, MS: 29
Crittenden County, AR: 4 or under
Numbers current as of 2:00 p.m. 3/24/2020

Shelby County currently has 135 confirmed COVID-19 cases. All out-of-county residents have been transferred to their local health department jurisdictions. Going forward, Shelby County Health Department will only track resident cases.
Please note: Laboratory reports of positive cases are reported to local health departments as soon as results are available. State numbers are updated at 2 p.m. CDT daily; but there is a lag in reporting of cumulative numbers at the state level, and that accounts for any discrepancy.
There are now indications that person-to-person spread in the workplace and the community is taking place. The Health Department recommends strict adherence to social-distancing recommendations.
The Health Department is committed to providing as much information as possible to the public as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop. The Health Department’s hotline number is 833-943-1658.

What You Need to Know

To further combat the spread of COVID-19, the City of Memphis will issue a Safer at Home Order effective 6pm on March 24, 2020 through midnight May 5, 2020 — directing all residents of Memphis to stay inside their homes, and immediately limit all movement outside of their homes beyond what is absolutely necessary to take care of essential needs.

THE BOTTOM LINE

City residents will be required to stay inside their homes unless they are engaged in certain “essential activities.” On those occasions when you are out of your home for necessary tasks, stay at least six feet away from others.

YOU CAN …

• Go to the grocery, convenience or warehouse store
• Go to the pharmacy to pick up medications and other healthcare necessities
• Go to medical appointments (check with your doctor or provider first)
• Go to a restaurant for take-out, delivery or drive-thru
• Care for or support a friend or family member
• Take a walk, ride your bike, hike, jog and be in nature for exercise — just keep at least six feet between you and others.
• Walk your pets and take them to the veterinarian if necessary
• Help someone to get necessary supplies
• Receive deliveries from any business which delivers

YOU SHOULD NOT …

• Go to work unless you are providing essential services as defined by this Order
• Visit friends and family if there is no urgent need
• Maintain less than 6 feet of distance from others when you go out
• Visit loved ones in the hospital, nursing home, skilled nursing facility or other residential care facility, except for limited exceptions as provided on the facility websites.

How to Help

If you want help those affected by making a contribution, you can contribute to the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund at the Community Foundation. The fund will provide flexible funding to organizations working with community members who have been impacted by novel Coronavirus and the economic consequences of the outbreak in West Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northern Mississippi.

To learn more and donate online, visit cfgm.org/COVID

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Daily Update: March 23, 2020

Shelby County currently has 84 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The increase in case numbers is not unexpected because testing has increased, especially by commercial laboratories.

Please note: Laboratory reports of positive cases are reported to local health departments as soon as results are available. State numbers are updated at 2 p.m. CDT daily; but there is a lag in reporting of cumulative numbers at the state level, and that accounts for any discrepancy.

The Health Department is committed to providing as much information as possible to the public as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop. The Health Department’s hotline number is 833-943-1658.

We’ve been saying this over and over, but it cannot be stressed enough. If you know you are sick, stay home. We are seeing proof that transmissions are happening in the workplace. The solution: even if you perform an essential function, stay home if you are sick! I know the choice to stay home is not always easy or an option, but if we’re going to slow the spread of the virus we all must do this.

Based on CDC guidance, I’m asking employers to adopt the following practices: 

1. Encourage staff who can to telework
2. Consider the following measures to achieve social distances requirement 

• Spacing workers at the worksite 
• Staggering work schedules 
• Decreasing social contacts in the workplace (limit in-person meetings) 
• All break areas must accommodate distancing 
• Reducing the capacity of customers

3. Strive for flexible leave policies for staff who need to stay home due to school/childcare dismissals.

As you may have seen on Friday, Shelby County Schools announced they would no longer be able to deliver food service to students due to coronavirus concerns. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when people work together to get things done, and this is a prime example. As soon as we heard the news, the City, YMCA, Feedwells, Mid-South Food Bank, and Shelby County Schools worked together to craft an alternate plan to make sure students do not go without food. 

To see the full details of the plan, go here.

If you need to conduct business with the City like paying taxes, fines, etc., please do so through the mail or one of our on-line portals rather than in person. The link to pay your taxes online can be found on our memphistn.gov site. If you don’t access to a computer or a smart phone to pay your City of Memphis bills, don’t come to City Hall, you can call (901) 522-1111 so that we can make the necessary arrangements so you don’t get charged late fees or fines.
One of the unintended consequences of social distancing and avoiding large gatherings is the cancellations of blood drives across the country, resulting is a critical blood shortage.  

The CDC is advising that blood donors who are well to please schedule an appointment to donate as soon as you can. We have recommended that people avoid gatherings. But blood drives are not gatherings: they are blood donation operations that are an “essential health care activity.” To care for patients, people should give blood, keep scheduled blood drives and organize blood drives in the coming weeks.

if you want help those affected by making a contribution, you can contribute to the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund at the Community Foundation. The fund will provide flexible funding to organizations working with community members who have been impacted by novel Coronavirus and the economic consequences of the outbreak in West Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northern Mississippi. 

To learn more and donate online, visit cfgm.org/COVID

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Daily Update: March 22, 2020

COVID-19 Cases
Shelby County: 66*
Tennessee: 505
Shelby County Residents Approved for Testing by State Lab: 50
Persons Under Public Health Monitoring in Shelby County: 114
All numbers updated as of 2:00 p.m. 3/22/20
*Includes one out-of-state resident who tested positive in Shelby County. Listed on the Tennessee Department of Health site as “Resident of Other State/Country.”

Shelby County currently has 66 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The increase in case numbers is not unexpected because testing has increased, especially by commercial laboratories. 

Please note: Laboratory reports of positive cases are reported to local health departments as soon as results are available. State numbers are updated at 2 p.m. CDT daily; but there is a lag in reporting of cumulative numbers at the state level, and that accounts for any discrepancy.

The Health Department is committed to providing as much information as possible to the public as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop. The Health Department’s hotline number (833-943-1658), was activated March 12, 2020. Since that date, it has fielded hundreds of calls from the general public about COVID-19.

Effective midnight on March 19, 2020, I declared a state of civil emergency requiring all restaurants to perform only take-out or delivery services and bars, gyms and other workout facilities to close. In addition to that order, effective midnight March 21, 2020, I am now requiring:

a. Theaters, cinemas, movie theatres, and indoor and outdoor performance venues, and other similar recreational or entertainment facilities; and

b. Bowling alley, arcades, indoor climbing facility, indoor skating rink, trampoline park, and other similar recreational or entertainment facilities; and

c. Hookah bars, cigar bars, and vaping lounges offering their products for on-premises consumption.

In addition, on-site consumption of food or beverage within private fraternal, social, golf or country clubs or similar private clubs are prohibited as of tonight at midnight.

To see the executive order, click here.

In other news, this morning the Memphis Alcohol Commission unanimously voted to allow restaurants to sell beer effective immediately for delivery and takeout orders. 

During this time, we are still strongly encouraging you to continue to-go orders and support our local restaurants and their staffs. We’re providing on-street parking relief exclusively for food delivery vehicles at various restaurant locations Downtown and Midtown where parking meters are installed. For Downtown restaurant pick-up, take-out and delivery, go here. 

To enhance and expand the work we’ve been doing over the last eight days, we created the joint Memphis/Shelby County COVID-19 Task Force. The task force is led by Mayor Lee Harris and myself and includes representation from all divisions of both Shelby County Government and City of Memphis, as well as, other public service agencies and members of the nonprofit community.

If you want help those affected by making a contribution, you can contribute to the Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund at the Community Foundation. The fund will provide flexible funding to organizations working with community members who have been impacted by novel Coronavirus and the economic consequences of the outbreak in West Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northern Mississippi. 

To learn more and donate online, visit cfgm.org/COVID

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Daily Update: March 21, 2020

COVID-19 Cases
Shelby County: 42*
Tennessee: 228

Shelby County Residents Approved for Testing by State Lab: 46

Persons Under Public Health Monitoring in Shelby County: 60

All numbers updated as of 10:00 a.m. 3/21/20

*Includes one out-of-state resident who tested positive in Shelby County. Listed on the Tennessee Department of Health site as “Resident of Other State/Country.”

Shelby County currently has 42 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The increase in case numbers is not unexpected because testing has increased, especially by commercial laboratories. 

Please note: Laboratory reports of positive cases are reported to local health departments as soon as results are available. State numbers are updated at 2 p.m. CDT daily; but there is a lag in reporting of cumulative numbers at the state level, and that accounts for any discrepancy.

There are now indications that person-to-person spread in the community may be taking place. The Health Department recommends strict adherence to social-distancing recommendations:

Messages for Individuals:
• Avoid handshakes and close contact with others whenever possible. 
• Cancel or postpone gatherings of 10 or more people. Instead of visiting friends or relatives, call or video chat. 
• Stay at home whenever possible. While Shelby County School students and many others are out of school, keep children home and plan home-based activities.
• Children and adults may exercise outdoors, while maintaining at least six feet of distance from others.
• Do not go to work or go out in public if you are sick, especially with fever, cough or other respiratory symptoms. 
• Re-evaluate travel plans. It is strongly recommended to avoid any unnecessary travel.  If traveling overseas, check the CDC’s travel advisory website, which is updated daily: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel.  If traveling within the U.S., avoid destinations where COVID-19 has been reported. 
• Avoid non-essential flights. Traveling by private vehicle limits exposure to other people.
• Wash your hands thoroughly and often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Scrub dirt under fingernails with a brush and soap. 
• Practice respiratory etiquette by using a tissue if coughing or sneezing, then throwing the tissue away and washing your hands.
• Sanitize surfaces that are frequently touched by many people with anti-bacterial wipes or diluted bleach solution. 

Messages for Community/Business Leaders:
• Cancel or postpone meetings and conferences of 10 or more people. 
• Consider conducting all conferences or meetings by phone or video chat rather than face-to-face.
• Adhere to CDC travel guidelines by reviewing the CDC’s travel website (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html) and avoiding destinations with travel health notices.
• Discourage workers from using other workers’ phones, desks, offices, or other work tools and equipment, whenever possible.
• Encourage and enable employee telecommuting to limit person-to-person interactions as much as possible.
• Businesses that serve the public, including restaurants and retail stores should encourage social distancing by putting space between tables and spacing out check-out lines as much as possible.
• Consider providing delivery or curbside pick-up options to limit interactions in stores and restaurants. 

The Health Department is committed to providing as much information as possible to the public as the COVID-19 situation continues to develop. The Health Department’s hotline number (833-943-1658), was activated March 12, 2020. Since that date, it has fielded hundreds of calls from the general public about COVID-19. Below are statistics about calls into the hotline since March 12, 2020, and a daily number of hotline calls fielded yesterday.

The COVID-19 hotline is answered each day, including Saturday and Sunday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
After-hours calls are returned as soon as possible on the next business day.