How city intends to limit access to its parks
After a temperate spring weekend that saw Memphians flout social distancing guidelines and flock to parks in droves, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced the city will begin limiting access to its 100-plus parks.
“Over the last several days ... more and more people have been getting outside. That alone is not a bad thing ... It does become a huge problem when people disregard the importance of social distancing,” Strickland said. “Unfortunately some people aren’t taking this seriously. For the health of our city, they must start now ... Because of this, effective 8 a.m., March 31, we are limiting park access.”
Riverside will close between Union and Georgia avenues, the city tweeted Monday.
Strickland will close as many other roads as allowable per fire code, he said. City employees will monitor parks throughout the area to make sure they don’t get too crowded.
Parks will be open to those running and walking, but those taking part need to be members of the same household, he said.
Strickland called Memphians’ actions over the weekend “reckless, irresponsible and selfish.”
If social distancing guidelines aren’t
heeded, people would die needlessly, he said.
The announcement stopped short of closing the parks, which have been relied on by people seeking to escape from their homes after days out of school and being cooped up indoors.
However, the mayor said that he could still take that step and acknowledged that his administration is taking a gradual approach to closures and other enforcement measures.
Memphis temporarily closed Tom Lee Park last Thursday after it drew a crowd.
Strickland then banned the use of soccer and baseball fields and basketball courts on Friday.
However, hundreds went to Overton Park Sunday. Some kept their distance from one another. Others did not, passing within inches of each other on the park’s narrow hiking trails. Multiple people were seen golfing at the park’s public course. A group of bongo drummers, stationed several feet apart, played folk music for several hours.
‘We are not flattening our curve’
Monday’s news conference amounted to another plea from the Strickland administration to abide by the social distancing measures put in place in an attempt to stem the coronavirus pandemic.
The mayor has said Memphis faces two choices — a flattened curve like the one seen in South Korea or an overwhelmed healthcare system similar to Italy.
On Monday, 10 days after he gave Memphis that choice, Strickland said, “The doctors tell me we are not flattening our curve and we are not even close to getting to that point.”
He said the city and Shelby County are catching up to where they would have been had there been no shortage of tests at the outset of the pandemic. Strickland said the ramp up in testing is underway at the Mid-south Fairgrounds, Christ Community Health Centers and local hospitals.
As of Monday, 4,382 people had been tested in Shelby County, according to the City of Memphis.
Strickland also pleaded with those who had taken a coronavirus test to stay home even as they waited for their test results.
The mayor’s urging came a week after he was presented data that showed, in a worst case scenario, that more than 8,000 people could die and 400,000 people could be infected across the Memphis metropolitan area over the next 12 months. He issued the “Safer at Home” directive hours later.
Essential businesses list could narrow
The virtual news conference Monday was held over an internet livestream, to keep with social distancing guidelines. City planning meetings regarding the coronavirus outbreak have also become virtual in the past week as Shelby County cases have skyrocketed.
Strickland’s limitation on parks comes about one week after he ordered city residents to stay at home. The “Safer at Home” order took effect at 6 p.m. on March 24. Before that order, Strickland had closed nonessential businesses including certain retailers, nail salons, movie theaters and entertainment venues.
However, the list of essential businesses allowed to stay open is broad. Strickland said he continues to look at that list of businesses and said it will be narrowed as necessary.
The “Safer at Home” order will be extended, Strickland said, and he will announce that extension over the next several days.