Customers wearing masks and gloves and standing on spots marked for social distancing is part of experiencing reality at the Home Depot in Midtown during the public health emergency. (Photo: Karanja A. Ajanaku)
Shelby County Health Department Update: April 18, 2020
Shelby County currently has 1731 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The total number of deaths in Shelby County attributed to COVID-19 is 37.
Chattanooga allows drive-in church services after lawsuit
(AP) — A Tennessee mayor is reversing course to allow drive-in church services during the coronavirus pandemic after the city was sued over its ban.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke confirmed the change in policy Saturday on Twitter. The conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom recently filed a federal lawsuit over the drive-in church ban on behalf of Chattanooga-based Metropolitan Tabernacle Church.
“Every week I sign a new executive order. I have spoken to pastors who assured me they could operate drive in church safely, with spaces between the cars and no collection plates,” Berke said Saturday on Twitter. “This week’s order therefore permits drive in church. Please observe safely.” READ more
UTHSC medical student organization creates fact sheet for kids
A student organization at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is doing its part to make sure that children in the Memphis community are properly informed about the coronavirus (COVID-19) through an age-specific flyer, the UTHSC Coronavirus Fact Sheet for Kids.
The document, created by Health Students Teach Memphis Youth, explains a range of things from what a virus is to the importance of social distancing. The organization, which operates through the College of Medicine, educates local elementary and middle school students about various aspects of health, from nutrition to mental and physical wellness to safety.
In the United States, there have been approximately 2,572 COVID-19 cases among children under 18, which is approximately 1.7 percent of reported cases overall. Because children are likely to be asymptomatic carriers and thus vectors for transmitting the virus to adults, the student group felt it was important to teach kids how proper hygiene practices and physical distancing can go a long way for community health.
“We are hoping that this educates our families in Shelby County to take proactive measures to combat COVID-19, whether that is in the form of social distancing or washing hands,” said third-year medical student Rahul Mohan, who is also one of the leaders of the Health Students Teach Memphis Youth.
“By compiling and releasing this information, we aim to not only prevents individual families from falling ill, but to also support a community-wide movement among our families to take this virus seriously.”
The flyer has been distributed digitally to schools and organizations in Memphis and Nashville. It can also be found on the UTHSC Coronavirus Website Resources page.
An update on local testing availability
Via his weekly update, Mayor Jim Strickland says, “if you or someone you know has not been tested, and you’re experiencing symptoms—get tested. We have the resources readily available, and they’re all free.
“You don’t need a doctor’s referral, but you do have to make an appointment. At this time, we are not–let me say that again–we are not testing asymptomatic individuals. We have testing sites all over our city and starting today, we’re adding more capacity in Frayser and Hickory Hill. For a full list of test sites, click here.
Music break: Where is the love? – The Black Eyed Peas
For LáDeia Joyce and others living with HIV/AIDS during the coronavirus pandemic, it’s gotten even harder to maintain a sense of normalcy. (Screen capture)
“Control the controllable; in the end that’s all any of us can do.”
LáDeia Joyce embraced that guiding principle many years ago. She uses her voice and platform to speak about HIV treatment, prevention and life with that virus after learning of her diagnosis three years ago. In self-quarantine since Mid-March in response to the coronavirus, she’s had to make adjustments to her lifestyle.
For those living with HIV/AIDS during the coronavirus pandemic, it’s gotten even harder to maintain a sense of normalcy and it looks as though “normal” isn’t returning anytime soon.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there’s not enough data to show if HIV Positive people are at more risk of contracting COVID-19. However, there is a higher risk of sickness amongst those who are not on antiviral treatment and among those with a low CD4 cell count. HIV, over time, eats away at the cells that make up the majority of the immune system, leading to AIDS.
Daily routines have been upended as strict social distancing guidelines keep people away from each other in an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.
“It just has me more heightened with interactions, it has me more heightened when it comes to just viruses and colds,” said Joyce. “It’s made me become more in tune with my body because now I have a chance to listen to it without a bunch of outside noise.”
The coronavirus, which was first reported out of the Wuhan Province in China in December 2019, has spread throughout the world, slowing life down as people adjust lifestyles to shelter in place.
More than 553,000 had been infected with COVID-19 in the United States, with 21,000-plus deaths as the Easter weekend unfolded. CDC scientists and spokespeople report that African-Americans are infected – and die – disproportionally.
“It’s made me more aware of the sanitation process, being more astute…,” Joyce said. “Not to say we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do, but where we failed and got lax on, what we’re supposed to do with cleanliness.”
Amid multiple and varying government mandates ordered to slow the virus’ spread, flatten the curve, limit the number of infections seen on a regular basis, there is no cure for COVID-19.
For many, testing positive for the coronavirus can feel like a scarlet letter.
“Some people feel stigmatized if they do get diagnosed with COVID-19,” Joyce said. “Correlate those feelings and those emotions to those who’ve been diagnosed with HIV.”
“This ain’t going nowhere anytime soon”
According to CDC figures, 37,382 people were diagnosed with HIV in 2018. Of those cases, 13,312 were African Americans.
Dwayne Murrell
DeWayne Murrell with PAIGE Memphis does outreach to the Black LGBTQ community in Memphis. Often, his responsibility has him addressing HIV treatment options that a person he is working with may not know exists.
“Knowing the nature of COVID-19, it is a respiratory-attacking type virus, so if a person is living with one of those pre-existing conditions, which is more likely in Shelby County (really in the South), that puts them even more at risk because their immune system is more compromised,” said Murrell.
The coronavirus’ spread has funneled much of life in the US online. That could trigger a health-care consequence, said Jasper Hendricks with Nashville Cares, an HIV/AIDS outreach group based in Middle Tennessee.
Jasper Hendricks
“We’re afraid people may fall out of care as things move to online,” said Hendricks.
Nashville Cares has been closed since late March in compliance with Nashville’s “safer-at-home” order directing people to remain in their homes, except to get essential services, until told otherwise.
Meetings now are being held by appointment only, with home visits brought nearly to a halt. With people requested to stay indoors and six feet apart, outreach is hard to do.
Murrell feels restless, restricted to his home. Still, he doesn’t understand why others aren’t doing the same. He encourages those needing care to consider all options, including tele-health services, if they are available. He also wants more advocacy for HIV Positive people.
“Even with folks who are living with their diagnosis, they’re not empowered and the community as a whole doesn’t do a good job as stewards over their care and empowering them to get up and speak for themselves,” he said.
“Until I see some people who are positive ready to go ahead and fight and I not just stand by and support, I’ll be on the front line.”
“Change your mindset inwardly”
“I don’t feel scared at all,” said LáDeia Joyce. “My mind says, ‘you’re prepared, not scared, but you also have to be alert and prudent with how you move.’” (Screen capture)
LáDeia Joyce knows that it’s not likely restrictions will be lifted anytime soon. She says we must embrace and tackle our everyday lives in a different way.
“I hope the world is going to be heart-centered and compassion-filled and I hope the world is going to be one that recognizes the essential people that got us through; because pre-covid-19, we didn’t value those people.”
Weeks ago she broke down – tears flowing – in front of friends as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified. Since then, she’s done her best to stay positive, regularly doing Facebook Live broadcasts and Facetiming friends and family.
“I don’t feel scared at all,” she said. “My mind says, ‘you’re prepared, not scared, but you also have to be alert and prudent with how you move.’”
She’s focusing her mind and energy and encourages other HIV Positive people to do the same during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Even though people say we’re self-quarantining, let’s just think of it as we’re taking a sabbatical,” Joyce said. “Change your mindset inwardly.”
A byproduct of the public health emergency may be a stronger sense of community, she added.
“Let’s use our thought process and our energy to manifest good things,” Joyce said. “I just hope and pray when we come out of this, this is one of the things we continue to do.”
TSD Associate Publisher/Executive Editor Karanja A. Ajanaku, leaving the newspaper's Beale St. office after handling some short-term business. For the TSD, living through COVID-19 means producing remotely. (Photo: Karanja A. Ajanaku)
by Jerome Wright —
This is the third installment of The New Tri-State Defender’s ongoing account of three Memphians coping with the coronavirus amid government-directed efforts to slow the virus’ spread.
Seriously into couponing
The topic was couponing, the setting was a Zoom conference and the attendees were linked by Margaret Cowan’s nonprofit — I Am My Sister’s Keeper.
Margaret Cowan
Cowan calls it a “village” of single working mothers working to gain greater financial independence. With the village adhering to social-distancing directives, the Zoom conference was the group’s second foray into gathering virtually.
One of the mothers, said Cowan, is seriously into couponing.
“As a single mom, you have got to save money any way you can and with less money coming in (because of layoffs and furloughs), saving money is important,” she said.
Last week, the group managed to gather on the parking lot of the Frayser-Raleigh Senior Center, practicing social distancing, of course. Cowan said they now are trying to arrange some kind of in-person social gathering, maybe on a Sunday; again, within social distancing guidelines.
Cowan said she has made good progress on developing a strategic plan for her nonprofit, with hopes it will lead to more corporate sponsorships.
Updating threads from earlier installments, Cowan said the hotel manager, who was laid off, was called back to work. And, another mother, who was laid off from her hotel job, was approved for a COVID-19 Hospitality Grant.
As to what she has been up to in her personal life, Cowan said cooking, which she loves to do, and selling plates.
“What if someone wants a shave”
William Gandy Jr. adores his four-year-old granddaughter, Brooklyn. His daughter brought her by his house on Tuesday. And while he and Brooklyn have been FaceTiming, it was the first time he had seen her in person in two or three weeks.
William Gandy Jr.
Seeing her was a welcome break from uncertainty. A barber, Gandy hasn’t worked at his Whitehaven barbershop since Mayor Jim Strickland issued a safer-at-home mandate last month. Barber and beauty shops are not considered essential businesses.
Last Saturday, Gandy and the other barbers at the shop engaged in a conference call, where the main concern was, “We’re all ready to go back to work.”
Gandy wonders what going back to work will look like. Will barbers or their clients, or both, have to wear masks? What if someone wants a shave, mustache trim or eyebrow arch?
An accomplished musician, singer, songwriter and author, Gandy knows those jobs also have dried up because of social distancing and safer-at-home mandates.
Since he has been off, he has finished a book five years in the making and completed composing a couple of songs. (Gandy’s “Barber Shop Blues” can be found on must Internet music platforms.)
Except for rare trips to the grocery, he has stayed at home.
Temporarily closed
The Lenny’s Grill & Subs franchise that James Cook operated at Memphis International Airport closed last week (April 10). Projected numbers forced his decision.
This week, he was working with another Lenny’s franchisee, whose company he has partnered with in the past.
Cook’s business situation at the airport got steadily worse. He is proprietor and partner with KC Eatery, which operates Runway 901 Bar & Grill and Lenny’s Grill and Subs.
He closed Runaway 901 after passengers through the airport dropped to a trickle because of the virus. He kept Lenny’s open, hoping that business from airport employees would help keep the business afloat.
Airport officials, however, reshuffled staff schedules to adjust to the virus situation, further reducing the number of potential customers.
On April 6, Cook was down to one employee and himself, and he had reduced operating hours.
Two days later, he was the only employee.
Two more days, and his Lenny’s Grill and Subs shop was temporarily closed.
With his grill and sandwich shop temporarily closed, James Cook landed work at another franchise location. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises)
NASHVILLE — A federal judge Friday night ruled that Tennessee has to continue allowing abortions amid a temporary ban on nonessential medical procedures that’s aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman said the defendants didn’t show that any appreciable amount of personal protective equipment, or PPE, would be saved if the ban is applied to abortions.
In a hearing by phone Friday, attorneys representing several state abortion clinics argued that Tennessee women will face immediate harm if the ban on abortions is not lifted.
Alex Rieger, arguing for the Tennessee attorney general’s office, said abortions are not being singled out but treated like any other procedure that is not necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury. Gov. Bill Lee issued an emergency order on April 8 banning those procedures for three weeks.
The goal of the ban is to preserve the limited supply of PPE for doctors fighting COVID-19 and to help prevent the community spread of the disease by limiting patient-provider interactions, Rieger said. The two sides tangled over whether halting abortions would meet or undermine that goal.
Several other states are grappling with similar issues. Judges in the past week have ruled to allow abortions to continue in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Ohio and Texas.
Genevieve Scott, an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, argued that all pregnant women need care. About 1 in 5 pregnant women require hospital visits before labor, and 15-20% of pregnancies end in miscarriages. Even those women without problems require prenatal care and tests. All of that requires providers to use personal protective equipment and interact with patients, Scott said.
Rieger argued that most of what Scott described would take place a couple of months down the road and that “every piece of PPE we use now is a piece that is not available when this disease reaches its peak.”
Scott disputed that idea, saying the needs are immediate. She also noted that there is no guarantee the executive order will not be extended.
“Nothing in their arguments today suggests they really believe that in three weeks the issue will be resolved,” she said.
Abortion clinics have already turned away dozens of patients, Scott said. The longer an abortion is delayed, the greater chance of complications, she said. And the delay could prevent some woman from having an abortion altogether by pushing them past 20 weeks gestation, after which abortions generally are not available in Tennessee.
Rieger asserted that Tennessee has the power to restrict abortions in a public health emergency, citing a 1905 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court held that requiring citizens to be vaccinated for smallpox was a legitimate exercise of the state’s police powers to protect the health and safety of its citizens.
He suggested abortion providers don’t want to play by the rules that everyone else has to abide by.
“They want abortion to carry on in Tennessee as if COVID had never happened,” Rieger said. “Tennesseans are making extraordinary sacrifices. Abortion providers don’t want to sacrifice.”
Scott argued that abortion has been recognized as a constitutional right. And she said medical groups, including the College of Surgeons, which the state relied upon in crafting its executive order, recognize that abortion is essential care that should not be delayed.
“The state is singling out abortion as the only essential care excluded by the executive order,” she said.
Tennessee’s Republican governor often speaks of his Christian faith and has said he wants to enact some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation, including banning women from undergoing the procedure once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
With his Lenny's business shutdown, James Cook prepares a sandwich as an employee at another location. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises)
by Jerome Wright —
James Cook, 36, did not start his professional career expecting to be an entrepreneur.
Thanks to a friend and a desire to change careers, however, he became proprietor and partner with KC Eatery, which operated Runway 901 Bar & Grill and Lenny’s Grill and Subs at Memphis International Airport (MIA).
Both businesses are now shuttered, victims of a steep drop in the number of passengers arriving and leaving the airport, and a related reshuffling of airport employees’ work schedules, resulting from safer-at-home and shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
James Cook works alongside Angela Henley, the manager of Lenny’s Sub Shop on Poplar near Humes. Henley once worked for Cook, who has had two close both of his businesses at Memphis International Airport. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises)
MIA President and Chief Executive Officer Scott A. Brockman said Tuesday that systemwide the number of passengers and employees passing through airports’ checkpoints are down 93 to 95 percent and that is mirrored in Memphis. MIA, he said, worked with its restaurants and gift shop vendors to have them shut down, if they can’t make it financially, and to help them prepare to restart when things return to normal.
With Cook closing Lenny’s last Friday, there is only one restaurant opened in the airport.
Businesses, especially small businesses, have been hit extremely hard as safer-at-home mandates cut revenues, forcing businesses to lay off or furlough thousands of employees.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., some 700,000 initial unemployment claims had been filed during a single week on record, according to data from the Department of Labor. During the week ending March 28, 6.8 million Americans filed initial claims.
The impact has been particularly devastating to African-American-owned businesses.
Mark Yates, president and CEO of the Black Business Association of Memphis, recently penned a letter to U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. President/CEO Ron Busby Sr. and USBC board of directors Chairman Charles O’Neal.
“While performing a back-of-the-envelope analysis – precipitated by COVID-19 – we quickly got to the potential negative economic impact COVID-19 will have on Black Businesses in the Memphis MSA.,” Yates wrote. “Based on our analysis, we calculated the negative impact to be anywhere between $205 million and upwards of $1.25 billion.”
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, realizing that small businesses were being hit extremely hard, on Monday announced the creation of two City of Memphis micro-loan programs.
Meanwhile, with his airport businesses closed, Cook now is working for a Lenny’s franchisee that his company has partnered with. He said he is “blessed” not to be missing a paycheck.
He graduated from Bishop Byrne High School in 2001 and then enrolled at Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he double majored in criminology and psychology, with a minor in theater.
He said all his Memphis friends, who were attending college in Tallahassee, were at Florida A&M University, including one who led him in the restaurant business.
The friend is James Kelly, whose mother is Edith Kelly-Green, a former FedEx executive who made national business headlines when she became the largest multi-unit franchise owner of Lenny’s Sub Shop. She was able get her son, who was working at ServiceMaster, into the business as an owner, Cook said.
Cook was working for AT&T, doing a lot of business-related travel, of which he was growing tired. James Kelly asked him to come work with him and he gladly accepted.
“I came on as an employee for the first year. Then we opened in the airport and developed a good relationship them,” Cook said.
When Delta Air Lines officially decommissioned Memphis International Airport as one of its hubs in late 2013, passenger flights in and out of Memphis nosedived. And, so did business customers. “We had to pull out of the airport,” Cook said.
He went to work at a Lenny’s in Whitehaven before airport officials approached them about coming back when another company, which operated about six food stations, pulled out.
“They asked for me by name,” he said because of the way his earlier business operated.
So, he left Whitehaven for the airport. By that time, he was a partner in the firm.
The company opened Runway901, the Lenny’s and a Wimpy’s Burgers and Fries. The Wimpy’s eventually closed.
Cook, who has operated businesses at the airport for about 10 years, is anticipating reopening his airport businesses.
While working at the Lenny’s on Poplar, this week, Cook was asked what was most fulfilling about his career as a restaurateur.
“Developing the business and people,” he said.
“I’m looking at a young woman right now, who is the manager (of this store). She started as a front-line worker seven years ago and now she is manager of her own store,” Cook said.
Three other women who once worked for him as front-line workers are now managers.
(Jerome Wright is deputy editor for The New Tri-State Defender. Email: jwright@tsdmemphis.com)
Mark Yates, who runs the Black Business Association, said African-Americans in the business sector need to see "how we can flourish” by taking advantage...of potential opportunities in IT, remote working, and training and teaching.
by Jerome Wright —
Mark Yates, who heads the Black Business Association of Memphis, said the effect of the coronavirus on African-American businesses is “devastating. …We need to be working with alacrity to deal with this. This is a depression and action is needed now.”
Yates echoed the concerns of small business advocates nationally: Financial assistance is available, but mixed interpretations on what is needed to get the aid is making it difficult.
Back-of-the-envelope analysis, Yates said, projects COVID-19’s impact on Memphis’ African-American businesses to be “between $205 million and upwards of $1.25 billion.”
Post March 11, “we’re living in a new day,” said Yates. Going forward, “We need to see how we can flourish” by taking advantage, for example, of potential opportunities in IT, remote working, and training and teaching, he said.
Regarding small businesses, Joann Massey, director of the city’s Office of Business Diversity & Compliance, said, “These under-represented communities of business owners (minority- and women-owned business enterprises) receive less investment, fewer bank loans especially with first-come, first-serve programs.
“We must act now to help our small businesses survive. We need to also be intentional about doing that in an inclusive way.”
Mayor Strickland has announced efforts to help, including to loan programs for local businesses suffering under the pandemic. Those who qualify will include businesses denied Small Business Administration stimulus funding loans.
The Economic Hardship Emergency Loan Fund will offer loans of $2,000 to $5,000 per business with interest deferred for six months to businesses located in Memphis and that have been open at least three years, and that have less than $1 million in revenue annually. The loan will provide emergency working capital for expenses such as rent, mortgage payments, vendor payments and payroll, as well as insurance and utilities.
All businesses applying must be registered with the city’s Office of Business Diversity & Compliance.
A Small Business Resiliency Fund has been established. It will provide loans of up to $35,000 (federal Community Development Block Grant money) per business, with no payments for three months after the disbursement. Businesses that qualify must be located in Memphis, open for at least three years and have annual revenues of less than $1 million.
Applicants must have been denied funding by the Small Business Administration or an SBA lender, and also must be registered with the city’s Office of Business Diversity & Compliance.
For more information about these loan programs call 901-636-9300 or 901-636-6210; email Jerry.brack@memphistn.gov
The Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) is offering help ($5,000-$10,000) through its Neighborhood Emergency Economic Development grant program for businesses that remain open with a 25 percent or more drop in revenue and have a plan for 90 days of continuous operations.
Businesses closed as a nonessential business, with a plan for reopening within 90 days and a plan to stay open at least 90 days, could qualify for $5,000 under the terms of the EDGE grant program. All businesses applying for the EDGE grants must be in New Market Tax Credit qualified census tracts.
Bobby Rush photographed on Beale Street during the 2020 International Blues Challenge. (Photo: Joshua Branning)
by Tracy Sow —
Blues legend Bobby Rush has been suffering for the last few weeks with symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.
He has to remain in mandatory quarantine until April 20.
Immediately after his live social media performance March 24, Rush, 86, was rushed to a Jackson, Miss. hospital by his son and grandson. He was running a high fever, aching and coughing.
After being hospitalized, Rush was released and quarantined at his home. His private doctor administered a COVID-19 test that yielded inconclusive results.
Rush has since been tested by the state of Mississippi and has yet to receive the results. However, the state continues to deliver him two meals daily with no physical contact.
Speaking to Rush on Easter Eve was a drastic contrast to weeks earlier when every word sounded as if he was gasping for air and laboring just to give a short answer.
He was talkative and enthusiastic about his recovery. He credits God and his faith for his renewed strength. Many of his fans may not realize, he is the son of a preacher.
“Yes, my father pastored two churches most of his life and I learned a lot of spiritual things from him,” said Rush. “I don’t want to drag my beliefs on everybody, but I can tell you now God is real, and he is still in the healing business.”
Rush, Rhodes College’s inaugural visiting scholar of the arts and who taught blues in the schools for years, was asked what three things he would teach kids about blues today?
“It’s hard to tell you just three things but blues and gospel are the root of all-American music.
“The blues was founded by black people. Although, there are many white people and others that sing the blues, but I’m talking about where it comes from and that’s black people.
“I think everyone should know their history, culture and be proud of who you are,” he said.
In true Bobby Rush-style, he added, “What bothers me is back in the day there was a wah-wah pedal that guys invented for white guys to sound black.
“Now you got black guys buying wah-wahs to sound like white guys trying to sound black. That tells me they are either afraid or ashamed of themselves. Learn the richness of your culture.”
So, what’s left to do for Rush, who has won a Grammy, numerous Blues Music Awards and has performed in every major market in the world (he was the first blues artist in concert at the Great Wall of China)?
“I would love to perform in Africa and connect with the very root. It was on the slave ship that blues was incubated. I have visited, but I really want to perform in the Motherland.”
Joyful about feeling better, Rush said, “I just want to thank everyone that prayed for me. God heard those prayers and saw fit to heal my body. I need us to be kind to one another by adhering to social distancing, washing hands and please cover with a mask.”
Rush encouraged everyone who loves somebody to treat others with the respect that they want their loved ones shown.
Noting how disproportionately African Americans are dying from coronavirus, Rush made a plea to take the warnings and preventative measures seriously.
Here’s a snippet of Tracy Sow’s conversation with Bobby Rush
Seville is sunny, so Ayan Ajanaku makes a point to poke her head out of the window a few minutes each day. (Photo: Talia Guest)
by Ayan Ajanaku —
SEVILLE, Spain – I moved from Memphis to Spain in 2012. I’ve stayed because I like it. Now, like many people throughout the world, I can’t freely go to any of the places I love to visit. Spain is on lockdown, under siege by the coronavirus.
Worldwide, 107,000 deaths attributable to COVID-19 had been recorded by April 11 amongst 1.7 million confirmed cases, which included 396,000 recovered patients. April 11 also is the day the US total of 20,071 deaths pushed to the most in the world.
The US already had the most confirmed cases (518,000 as of April 11). Spain, with more infections (163,027) than any other country in Europe, reported 16,606 deaths and 59,109 recovered patients, also noting that its death rate had slowed.
The lockdown continues. Police patrol the neighborhoods. If you’re out after 7 p.m. (when things are ordered closed) or generally out looking like your loitering (and not grocery shopping), they will stop and question you. Not following the basic restrictions means fines that range from about $700 to $35,000, with more severe violations carrying fines in the hundreds of thousands.
Highways leaving out of cities are barricaded; you have to stop and explain to the police why you’re leaving.
I came to Spain to learn Spanish and to see Europe. I spent my first year in Madrid, the last seven years here in Seville. For four years, I helped teach English in public schools. Later, I transitioned to teaching English in academies. Now I teach English exclusively online.
After eight years of living in Spain I’m a bit better at really being where I am. Admittedly, when I’m annoyed about a process or outcome, I immediately start fantasizing about how things used to work when I lived in the US. As the late Bill Withers said, “Memories take you back to the good times when it’s over and the sad times disappear.”
I accept that my memories are just a kind of virtual reality; I don’t get too attached to them. That’s the position from which I look, indiscriminately, at the facts about the two cultures (in Spain and the US) and maintain my sanity during this COVID-19 pandemic.
Ayan Ajanaku teaches and sleeps in the same small space. So, her room is meticulously organized for her webcam, careful not to not show her bed. (Photo Talia Guest)
“Why has life not all but stopped there, like it has here?”
Facts: humans are substantively the same. Cultures are shaped by differing histories, which ultimately cause each country to have unique tendencies that must be examined, constantly, to foster and nurture growth.
My observation is that in the US the strongest narratives have themes of civil liberties and the pursuit of happiness. In Spain, the essence of a pervasive narrative is that we’re stronger, safer and better when we live together, fostering a more communal spirit.
These generalizations aren’t applicable across the board to every success and social problem, but they can generally help you to understand and perhaps accept why certain hurdles are more difficult or easier than others.
Case in point: When the state of alarm came out about a month ago in Spain to shut down the whole country, I saw Spain quickly moving into the lockdown stage while the US was lagging behind. My mind started to do what I always do – compare.
Gym workouts have become home workouts for Ayan Ajanaku and her roommate, who works from home now. (Photo Talia Guest)
I live in an 800-sq.-ft. apartment (no access to outdoor space) with my roommate, who has two kids that she has custody of half of the month.
Read the restrictions that me and most other citizens have been living under for the last month (and now just extended for another three weeks):
If you’re found going anywhere that isn’t the supermarket or a pharmacy, or if it even looks like a frivolous trip to the grocery store, you can get a ticket between 1300-15000 euros. Here in Seville, a woman was fined last week for a disputed trip to the store for essentials. She claimed the store didn’t have the diapers she needed, so she settled for candy. Authorities were not persuaded.
We can’t leave our apartments for exercise, walks. Parks are closed in addition to all non-essential businesses.
Not more than one person can be in a car.
You can’t walk your dog more than 50 meters from your home and you must do so alone.
“Meanwhile, on the same day the state of emergency was declared in Spain (March 14), my parents and Generation X sister are going on road trips.
And recently, in the midst of what now is widely accepted as a health crisis, one of my siblings in the US was getting together with a friend at her home for Sunday brunch.
I’m thinking, “What is that really about? Is it governmental policy, a cultural issue, ignorance or all of the above?”
Why has life not all but stopped there, like it has here?
My family isn’t an anomaly. Gun shops and churches are still open in many states. Wisconsin held an election with people lined up at the polls. And while gyms and most non-essential businesses are closed in the US, there are too few restrictions against outdoor activities in far too many places. A friend in Michigan said while running last week she passed a basketball court with several guys playing.
What happens when culture collides with a virus?
Every day at 8 p.m., neighbors come out to their windows or balconies to clap in appreciation for hospital workers. Musicians and DJs also play music. (Photo Talia Guest)
Democracy is a relatively new concept in Spain, only dating back to the late 70’s. Before that the country was ruled by dictatorship. While the idea of civil liberties is an important concept here, there’s no obsession. The thought of those liberties somehow overriding the community duty to keep everyone safe during a viral pandemic is unthinkable.
Instead there is this sort of understanding – solidarity – that it is right for the government to be empowered to make the swift changes needed to keep everyone safe. Yes, there were/are factions that continue to say that the “cure could be worse than the illness” from an economic perspective. That thought probably sounds familiar to many Americans.
In the US, priorities are much different. Personal liberties in most cases seem to trump everything else. Say and do what you want at all costs. Because if you can’t, then how could anyone be considered free?
But what happens when that culture collides with a virus?
The answer is, you get a slow response.
It’s the government’s fault you say? Well, we elected government officials. The government tends to act in a way that it feels its constituency will accept. In a capitalist country with a booming economy, a president risks all if she/he comes out of the gate saying shut everything down immediately before there has been a “significant” death toll.
Under such circumstances, the only thing that country could do is wait for people to die before making any significant changes. Or is it?
Understandably, shutting down countries too soon or too late could prove costly. And the decision must be made as folks at multiple turns are spouting statistics and making judgements in the midst of a global pandemic that is only four months old and unprecedented in the modern age.
Across the journalism spectrum, criticism is a constant theme, regardless of the country. Some of it is locked onto the fear that we might spend too much money in pursuit of making sure no life gets left behind.
Is that a sensible fear though? Do people really understand that such judgement paralyzes governments when it needs to act?
Paralysis in most cases is worse than moving in the wrong direction.
Perhaps one of the lessons learned from this pandemic will be how to empower our elected officials to truly guide and not be fearful of making the most conservative decisions necessary to protect life.
A neighbor’s child rides his scooter in circles on a loop that includes the balcony and the inside of his home. (Photo Talia Guest)
The Mid-South Food Bank Mobile Food Pantry at Divine Life on Riverdale Rd. was an oasis for families needing food help on Wednesday. (Photo: Gary S. Whitlow/GSW Enterprises(
When will life get back to “normal?”
It’s the question many are asking as shelter-in-place orders have been extended around the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While leaders in Memphis and Shelby County are working to mitigate the local spread of the virus, they’re also discussing ways to revive one of the pandemics’ biggest bystanders – the economy.
“When it’s time to lift our safer-at-home order we want to make sure that we are ready to get our economy back up and running, but we don’t know when that time will be just yet,” Mayor Jim Strickland said during Wednesday’s COVID-19 joint task force briefing.
Already riddled with high poverty rates, how will Memphis and Shelby County bounce back from the economic blow that has resulted in surging unemployment rates?
As of Monday, Tennessee officials reported dealing with 250,000-plus unemployment claims across the state.
Strickland, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and other mayors statewide have been in talks with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee regarding the logistics of restarting local economies.
Lee, who on Wednesday ordered school buildings closed for the rest of the academic year, earlier announced the formation of the state’s Economic Recovery Group to work on a plan to potentially allow Tennesseans to get back to work in May.
“It’s clear the economy cannot shut down for months on end,” Mayor Harris said. “But you will probably see a phased-in approach.”
President Donald Trump and his administration recently revealed the launch of a draft plan that calls for a step-by-step approach to the reopening of the country. The plan, obtained by the Washington Post, does not give firm dates for re-openings but says some areas with less virus transmission could go first, starting “not before May 1.”
Ultimately, the decision to reopen locally will be based upon the input from multiple levels of local, state and national political, business and health officials.
“With all these new programs we are hoping to help our local businesses bridge the gap as we try to get through this,” Mayor Jim Strickland said, announcing special help for small businesses. (Screen capture)
Strickland has said that there will need to be at least 1,000 people tested daily in the city to effectively gauge the effects of the virus. As of Tuesday (April 14), 15,082 residents had been tested, according to the Shelby County Health Department, with 31 deaths.
Meanwhile, initiatives have been unveiled to help mitigate the coronavirus’ slamming of the local economy. Monday the city announced two micro-loan programs to provide some relief to local business owners. The loans range from $5,000 to $35,000.
The Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis & Shelby County (EDGE) has crafted a grant assistance program, Neighborhood Emergency Economic Development (NEED), that is intended to help small locally-owned companies in mainly distressed areas. EDGE also plans to launch an additional program geared specifically towards recovery for these same type businesses.
“We recognize that when the emergency is finally lifted, companies will need assistance to help them during recovery,” said Reid Dulberger, president and CEO of EDGE. “Many of our local small businesses won’t survive and unless we can help them collectively. it may take a generation to rebuild.”
Dulberger said it’s difficult to pinpoint the steps of recovery for one main reason.
“No one’s crystal ball will be totally precise on this because we don’t know the extent of the health outcomes,” he said. “One thing is for sure. We will be in a global recession and recovery will likely be slow, greatly affecting smaller companies.”
Economic effects on non-business owners
UofM Asst. Professor Elena Delavega. (Photo: Karanja A. Ajanaku)
Elena Delavega, a poverty expert and associate professor at the University of Memphis, sees the poor being plagued by the effects of the pandemic long after restrictions are lifted.
“I expect unemployment to remain high for a while and the economy to be depressed for a long time after this is all over,” she said.
Shelby County’s poverty rate is 21.7 percent; the city’s 27.8. Delavega, who co-authors the annual “Poverty Fact Sheet,” expects those rates to almost triple.
“I’m thinking it will be about 60 percent – and that may be too optimistic,” she said. “The virus does not distinguish between rich or poor, black or white; but the impact of it will disproportionately affect the poor, many of who are African Americans.”
Almost 31 percent of African Americans living in Shelby County do so in poverty. In Memphis, the poverty rate for African American is 33.8 percent.
Delavega particularly is concerned about the pandemic’s effect on children and education. Shelby County Schools closed for Spring Break. With Lee’s order on Wednesday, school building are to be closed for the rest of the academic year.
“What you have is a group of children who will be at a disadvantage when this is over. And I find it hard to believe that they will catch up. …This affects poverty in the long term,” she said.
“This will come down to what the leadership does to support the community” she added. “In Memphis, we have an opportunity to bounce back quicker, if businesses really take care of workers by increasing wages to $15 an hour and providing employee benefits.”
Delavega suggests city and county leaders look at “reinventing the system.”
“We can’t go back to the way it was after this pandemic,” she said. “We should look at the points where the system has failed people living in poverty and do something about changing it. That’s the only way we will recover.”
With talks of reopening underway, Strickland repeatedly has said a definitive date is still unknown and that “the city wants to be prepared.”
A local economic recovery group, consisting of area politicians and business leaders, is being formed, he said. That group is set to meet for the first time on Thursday (April 16).
West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon addresses a special task force he launched to develop a strategy for dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo: Facebook.com/cityofwestmemphis)
Just in case you forget just how close West Memphis, Ark. is: Despite being separated by a river and a state line, it only takes about 15 minutes to get from West Memphis City Hall to Regional One Medical Center by car.
Which is to say that regardless of what coronavirus restrictions Ark. Gov. Asa Hutchinson puts in place or doesn’t – the “Natural State” is one of only seven states without a “stay at home” order – West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon knows the health and safety of his constituents will be impacted by what happens just east of the Mississippi.
And he’s not taking any chances.
“I’m in a unique position,” McClendon said Monday by phone. “I’ve got to do what’s going to be the best for everyone.”
Mayor Marco McClendon outside of West Memphis City Hall before being outside became something he restricted to slow the spread of COVID-19. (Courtesy photo)
McClendon has issued a citywide curfew that shuts the city down from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., excluding shift workers. He’s also closed city offices to the public and has instituted other safety measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s a different approach than what’s coming out of Little Rock. On April 12, Hutchinson was on “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper saying that Arkansas’ sparse population reduces his state’s risk, adding that citizens are practicing social distancing and other safety measures without a governor’s mandate.
“If we need to do more, we will do more,” the Republican governor said. “That’s always an option on the table if we have to shelter in place. But right now, what we’re doing proves to be successful, this targeted approach.
“We have masks and social distancing and the people of Arkansas have embraced that. That gives you success,” Hutchinson said, adding later, “We want to take the long-term approach to this and you’re not going to win simply by a lockdown.”
As of April 15, The Arkansas Department of Health reported 1,562 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Meanwhile, Shelby County alone has 1,359 confirmed cases. So for McClendon and the 26,000 residents he serves – about 56 percent African American – the realities on the ground are far different.
“You can actually walk from West Memphis to Downtown Memphis using Big River Crossing,” McClendon said. “And Shelby County has almost as many cases as the entire state of Arkansas. I’ve got I-55 and I-40 running through West Memphis, almost 70,000 vehicles coming through our city on a daily basis.
“So we’ve got to do the things necessary to keep West Memphians safe, compared to, you know, being in the middle of the state. There’s no other city in Arkansas that is as close to a metropolitan city like Memphis than we are. So I think that the rules have to be just a little bit different.”
McClendon, who has emerged as both an effective policymaker and inspirational leader, said the West Memphis City Council passed legislation to grant him power to handle the emergency, adding that his residents have largely complied with the curfew. Businesses, including grocery stores and liquor stores, are closed by 9 p.m. to honor the orders.
“The citizens have been 100 percent on board,” McClendon said. “The majority…is going in at 9 o’clock or before 9 o’clock. You may have a few young people that feel invincible and just want to be defiant, but the majority of the people support me and the council supports me.”
Officers are issuing warnings to violators, but McClendon said citations will be issued starting Monday, April 20.
McClendon supports necessary but limited movement – getting groceries, prescriptions, even taking walks in the park. “All those essential things you need to do, do it and come back home,” he said.
But his temper flares a bit thinking of people having large gatherings.
“We had some people at one time, were like, ‘It’s nice weather, let’s barbecue.’ And they’ve got 30 or 40 people in the yard. That’s just reckless, you know?” he said. “And they don’t understand that by being asymptomatic that you may feel better but then you go to your mom and your grandma. You can get them sick and possibly (COVID-19 could) take their lives.”
What about the economic impacts? Southland Gaming and Racing, which has been booming since the state allowed Vegas-style gambling just a year ago, is taking a beating with stay-at-home orders. But McClendon said that his city is in excellent financial shape, and exceptionally strong pre-outbreak revenues from the casino will help cushion fiscal hits to the city budget.
“The month they have been shut down, we’re going to be covered,” he said. “This city has always been in financial shape. And we own our own utilities anyway. (My administration) has made some great decisions, the former mayor also made some great decisions.
“We are in great financial position right now,” he said. “If Southland doesn’t open up for the rest of the year, we’ll still be in a position to do what we need to do.”
And the growth hasn’t slowed, he said. A steel mill is still projected to bring 700 jobs to the city and restaurant chains like Chick-Fil-A and IHOP are still moving forward with development plans there. He’s even researching opening a drive-in theatre – something family-friendly that can still be mindful of social distancing.
“We’ve got a lot of vacant land,” he said. “If there’s one thing West Memphis has, it’s a lot of land. So maybe three screens. And you’ll be six feet apart, because you’re in your car, listening to your movie on your radio system.”
And he’s still working the phones during the outbreak, trying to lure business and industry to his city.
“All the CEOs that own businesses, guess what? They’re home!” he chuckled. “So I’m trying to get our information to them. While you’re sitting around, ain’t got nothing to do, read our information.
“(We hope) that when this thing does pass us by, (they’ll think) ‘Hey, we’ve been researching West Memphis, Arkansas . . . and we’re going to move ahead with them because they’re ready.’”
