MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A number of concerns about COVID-19 were addressed in a virtual town hall meeting hosted by the NAACP Memphis chapter Thursday night.
Residents who participated online asked questions, and local leaders did their best to give them answers.
The first question was one a lot of people have: when will all or most of the non-essential businesses in Memphis open up again?
“We’re not going to do it without a thoughtful process,” city councilwoman Patrice Robinson said.
Officials’ thoughts are on new cases that haven’t slowed down enough, which is why Mayor Jim Strickland’s Safer at Home order was extended through May 5.
“And the numbers are going to drive what happens in this community,” Robinson said.
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris was in the meeting and said he’s well aware that families are suffering financially.
“We know that COVID-19 can end lives but we know that lives can also be shortened by things like job loss, by poverty, by food insecurity,” he said.
Other questions in the meeting centered on the jail with one resident asking if inmates who get released get tested.
Shelby County Public Defender Phyllis Aluko said they don’t, but she’s working on a plan to change that.
“I think it’s only appropriate that people who have been detained or incarcerated get help so that they know their status,” she said.
Officials in the meeting asked everyone to cover their faces in public and made an appeal to young people.
“Because they’re acting like there’s really nothing going on,” Robinson said. “Have you seen them in the store? They don’t have a mask on. They’re gathering at different places.”
Officials also encouraged employers to make their employees cover their faces while on the job.
