As you may have seen yesterday, I extended our Safer at Home Executive Order for an additional two weeks through May 5th. In the extension, we included some additional conditions, as well as, lifted some restrictions. These changes were made with an eye towards the future when we can get back to business.

I’ll quickly go through the highlights.

Effective Friday at 6:00 am, all “big-box retailers” of groceries and hardware items, such as Target, Kroger, Walmart and Walgreens, will be required to implement Covid-19 Compliant Protocols, including: Limiting the number of people who can enter the facility at any given time, such that people can easily maintain a 6-foot distance from each other



Establishing waiting lines (inside and outside the store) by marking six-foot increments to allow for social distancing

Providing hand sanitizer at the entrances

Requiring employees to wear facial coverings when in spaces accessible to the public

Providing at least one hour of controlled access every day to customers over 55, pregnant, or have serious underlying conditions

Members of the public are strongly encouraged to wear facial coverings when engaging with others or entering a place of business.

Consistent with the Health Department Directives, fully automated car washes will be allowed to operate, but all ancillary amenities, such as the vacuums, must be closed for public use.

Also, consistent with the Health Department Directives and the successful trial we did this past weekend, golf courses will be allowed to operate beginning this weekend, subject to implementation and compliance with Covid-19 Compliant Protocols specific to golf courses. Below are those protocols.

At this time, we are opening five of the eight public courses—Links at Galloway, Links at Audubon, Links at Fox Meadows, Links at Pine Hill, and we opened the Links at Whitehaven this past weekend.

The Links at Overton Park, Links at Riverside, Links at Davy Crockett will remain closed for the time being.

To see the full Order, go here.

Back to Business

Recently, I’ve received several questions regarding our reopening and how the Governor lifting his order May 1st will affect us. I want you to know we’re in constant communication with the Governor’s office as well as the mayors of the other three large cities across our state and cities within Shelby County.

To remind everyone—the Governor’s order only affects 89 counties across the state. Shelby County is not one of them.

Since the beginning, our approach has been one that is based on medical advice and data. Reopening our city and getting our economy moving again is vitally important, but we must to get back to business the right way. We cannot squander all the good we have done with our social distancing efforts to slow the spread of the virus.

As we look to reopen, we will base our decisions largely on three areas:

The numbers of new cases are stable or declining for a period of time.

Our hospitalizations are stable or declining for period of time and our hospitals have capacity to treat all patients.

Our testing and tracing capabilities are sufficient to contain the virus.

There will be more to come on this over the next two weeks as our economic recovery group is working on this daily. We will quantify these indicators or conditions and communicate them, so everyone will understand how we get back to business safely.

Finally, I just wanted to thank Ron and Carolyn Kent and Jasmine and King Chow for donating 10,000 surgical masks to the Memphis Housing Authority. I’ve said this before but the generosity of so many in our community has been amazing to see during this crisis.

Breaking down the numbers

If you haven’t figured out yet, I’m a data and a numbers guy. It’s how I make decisions, and in this situation, it helps to paint the overall picture. Below is a look at the number over a two-week period.

As we move forward and begin to look at reopening businesses, hopefully this graph will help you understand our decision-making process as we work to get our economy back on track.

Safer at Home Enforcement

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

COVID-19 Cases Shelby County Cases 1894 Deaths 41 Total Tested in Shelby County 20,315 Tennessee Total Cases 7,842*

*As of 2:00 p.m. 4/22/20 Other Jurisdictions: Tipton County, TN 83 Desoto County, MS 239 Crittenden County, AR 147 Numbers current as of 10:00 a.m. 4/22/2020

Shelby County currently has 1894 confirmed COVID-19 cases. The total number of deaths in Shelby County attributed to COVID-19 to 41.

The Shelby County Health Department is investigating clusters of infection in a number of facilities that serve vulnerable populations.

Map of COVID-19 cases in Shelby County as of 04/21/2020

Data Source: National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)

Here is a breakdown of current cases in Shelby County by age range:

COVID-19 Cases in Shelby County by Age as of 04/21/2020

Data Source: National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)

COVID-19 Cases in Shelby County by Age as of 04/21/2020

Data Source: National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)

Shelby County COVID-29 Cases by Race and Ethnicity as of 4/21/20

Data Source: National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS)

Shelby County Health Department has added a data page to its COVID-19 webpage: www.shelbytnhealth.com/coronavirus. It includes information about the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases in Shelby County.

All of Shelby County, including the municipalities and the unincorporated areas are under Safer at Home orders. Only essential businesses as spelled out in Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’s executive order of March 24, 2020, may remain open to the public. All assemblies and gatherings of more than 10 people outside of a private residence are prohibited. The list of essential and non-essential businesses can be viewed here.

For more information about the Safer at Home order or to register concerns, the public may contact:

· The Shelby County Mayor’s Action Line: 901-222-2300

· The Shelby County Health Department’s COVID-19 Hotline: 833-943-1658

· Email shelbytnhealth@shelbycountytn.gov.