Starting tomorrow at 6 p.m, Memphians will be ordered to stay at home.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced the Safer at Home Initiative Monday at Memphis City Hall. Under the order, Memphians will be required to stay home unless they have essential health care or business needs. Essential needs include fire, police, grocery stores, and gas stations, Strickland said.
“Memphians are safer at home,” he said.
Strickland said to expect similar mandates the cities of Bartlett, Collierville, and Germantown later today.
He said we “are in serious, unprecedented times which call for decisive actions to keep everyone safe.” Strickland said he and his team have been meeting with health care officials and are basing action on data and recommendations from experts.
But he also had a dire warning.
“Things will get worse before they get better but they will get better,” Strickland said.
However, he said as mayor, there was only so much he could do to get through the coronavirus outbreak.
“There has to be some personal responsibility,” he said. “You must take social distancing seriously. You must stay home unless it is essential, pursuant to the order.
“If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your grandparents, your mom and dad, your elderly neighbor, maybe a friend with health issues, or for the doctors and nurses treating those with the virus.”
Strickland said his Business and Infrastructure Task Force will be reaching out to industries here over the next two weeks to “find out how we can best help you and your business.”
