What we’ve learned since COVID-19 a year ago
Although the road has been rocky, and filled with twists and turns, we are succeeding.
It has been a long year.
On March 28, one year ago, the news reported Shelby County suffered the first casualty of COVID-19.
It’s gotten worse since that fateful day. All told, Shelby County has lost more than 1,500 lives. That’s more than the number of soldiers from Shelby County lost during the Vietnam War, Korean War and World War II, combined.
By now, all of us know someone who has contracted COVID-19 and too many of us know someone who didn’t make it.
We’ve gone through a tough road
Whether we personally know someone who lost their life, all of us have made significant sacrifices since last year. We have asked Shelby County residents to devote more to this cause than anything in our lifetime.
Shelby County residents have avoided social gatherings, including at places of worship.
They have missed visits and hugs with loved ones and replaced them with Zoom. We have been pulled toward shared re
sponsibility and adopted best strategies to slow the spread, including wearing masks, social distancing and handwashing.
In Shelby County, local government has worked to support students and families through remote learning, and marshalled resources to help families avoid eviction, assist with utilities and make mortgage payments.
We have steered resources to bars and restaurants that have been hard hit and, as important, we have steered resources to restaurant workers who have seen their hours and tips drastically cut.
We have provided resources to assisted living facilities for seniors to have virtual connections with their loved ones, and live-stream equipment to smaller places of worship for people to remain virtually connected to their faith.
However, COVID-19 continues to ravage
The economy for small businesses has been turned upside down.
Even with support, households and families have suffered. In an effort to slow the spread, some students have not been in school for a year. Divorce, crimeand domestic violence have all increased.
Although the road has been rocky, and filled with twists and turns, we are succeeding.
In fact, our infections per 100,000 residents are lower than most counties in Tennessee and lower than the infection rates in nearby cities, like Birmingham, St. Louis, Nashville and Jackson, Miss. We have been able to lift some restrictions on local businesses.
Our numbers are particularly encouraging given that our community has a relatively high density and high levels of comorbidities, compared with the rest of the state.
These characteristics should have heralded an even a worse state of affairs. But, we have collaborated across county lines and even across state lines to deliver economic relief, adopt mitigation strategies, and manage hospital capacity.
Furthermore, we have hope on the horizon. The CDC has announced that small groups of vaccinated individuals can gather without masks.
As more people get the vaccine, it will be quite the sight to see full faces again. We will get there.
We’ll have to continue the course, as we are not out of the woods yet.
We’ll also have to adjust and adapt, as we enter the next phase of the fight against COVID-19.
Right now, one of the most important things each of us can do is to make the case to neighbors and loved ones about the importance of vaccination.
Vaccine skepticism is real.
If we don’t work at it, when vaccine supply increases, all of us won’t be ready to receive the shot. As we navigate through the current phase of our fight, this is the commitment that we’ll need to make to community, to each other.
Commit to talking about the importance of the vaccine.
Commit to taking the vaccine as soon as it’s your turn.
Commit to making sure that you’re not the only one.
Lee Harris is the 6th Mayor of Shelby County, co-chair of the Joint Memphis/ Shelby County COVID-19 Task Force, and a fifth-generation Memphian. He can be followed on Twitter @Mayorleeharris.