The Mayor of Lakeland, Memphis, Shelby County and five other municipalities (Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown and Millington) have determined that Monday (5.4.20) is the date to begin phase one of the Back-to-Business Framework.
The announcement was made today (4.30.20) after careful study of the data, and on the advice of medical experts including the Shelby County Health Department. There are three phases in the Framework.
Among phase one guidelines are continued closings for personal appearance businesses, entertainment/performance venues and recreation facilities.
Included among the businesses allowed to reopen Monday are places of worship, healthcare, dentistry, restaurants and bars, retail stores and commercial businesses, and gyms and fitness facilities.
In Lakeland, City Manager Shane Horn announced today that City Hall, the IH Clubhouse and playgrounds will remain closed until May 18th. The Lakeland Senior Center will remain closed through May 31st.
Links to Back-to-Business Framework: https://covid19.memphistn.gov/
https://backtobusiness.memphistn.gov/framework/
“As we said at the beginning of this week, our data was trending in the right direction. Along with our doctors, we believe it’s time to slowly start opening our economy back up and get Memphians working again. As we have said since the beginning, we will continue to monitor this situation very closely to make sure our citizens remain safe and healthy.”
– Mayor Jim Strickland, City of Memphis
“As we enter the first phase of the economic recovery, I have to note that members of our community have made serious sacrifices. We have residents who have put their livelihoods and their ability to take care of their families on the line. We have healthcare employees and other frontline workers who have continued to serve through a very tough period of hardship. As we enter Phase 1, we must continue to be vigilant as a community. We must expand our efforts to protect vulnerable groups. And, if there is a significant flare up, we must be prepared to be honest about it.”
–Mayor Lee Harris, Shelby County
“We have been watching the data carefully and have continued to improve, particularly in hospital capacity and testing capacity, both of which continue to expand. Over this next phase, we will need to commit to expand our public health capacity to conduct investigations and aggressively respond to clusters as they emerge.”
-Dr. Alisa Haushalter, director, Shelby County Health Department
“Based on the data, I believe we have a stable rate of new cases, have seen a decline in utilization of hospital beds and are now in a steady state with day to day variation in bed utilization. We have sufficient capacity in the hospitals, in our testing capacity, and public health areas to justify relaxing some restrictions at this time. Throughout the reopening, we will continue to monitor the data as it comes to us.”
– Dr. Jon McCullers, UTHSC
“Today, I’m excited to stand with the leadership of Shelby County and announce the date for reopening our businesses. I want to thank the citizens and businesses of Lakeland for their patience and cooperation during these unprecedented times. This is only the first step in the process and we must remain vigilant with safety measures including social distancing, wearing masks, and staying home as much as possible. I’m confident that as a community we can achieve success and get back to a sense of normalcy.”
-Mayor Mike Cunningham, City of Lakeland
Phase One
Indicators and conditions to enter this phase:
- New cases: Green
- System capacity: Green or yellow
- Public health capacity: Green on all categories
- Testing: Green or yellow (availability), green (capacity), green (timing)
General recommendations
- Operations remain status quo for entities currently deemed essential, provided they continue to meet the CCP conditions.
- Entities currently deemed non-essential, which have limited personal contact between staff and/or visitors, may re-open facilities with restrictions and limited occupancy as outlined in the sector-specific framework. This includes restaurants and gyms/fitness facilities.
- Purposeful groups of more than 10 are not permitted.
- Indoor and outdoor facilities and public spaces may open for general recreation and non-contact sports subject to the restrictions of the CCP.
- Non-essential manufacturers/distributors, as well as offices and call centers, may re-open with restrictions and limited occupancy as outlined in the sector-specific framework.
- Elective medical procedures that are deemed medically necessary may resume.
Back to Business is a data-driven phased approach to reopening the economy in Shelby County and is driven by indicators (measurements of the status of the pandemic) and conditions (measurements of the capacity to deal with the pandemic).
