MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis will reopen in phases. But it’s not going to happen today or tomorrow or next week.
“It’s just going to be gradual,” says Memphis Assistant Chief Operating Officer Kyle Veazey. “I couldn’t say it any better than that.”
Veazey is a member of several groups who are trying to figure out how to get the economy going. Thousands, just in Memphis, have lost their jobs because of the shutdowns of non-essential businesses.
“It’s a huge challenge,” Veazey says, “... there’s no doubt it. We’re going at it in a way that is driven by data. Driven by science. Driven by well-informed leadership.”
This can’t be just a Memphis thing, Veazey says. The groups include the suburban towns in and around Shelby County.
Veazey says, “We are definitely coordinating with them. West Memphis is also on our task force.”
There have been and continue to be people around the country who want officials to quit with the quarantine and get back to business.
But people are still coming down with coronavirus, and people are still dying.
Veazey says, “We want to have the kind of policies and strategies in place that when everything tells us it’s good to go, we have this structure already built. We’re not just making this up on the fly.”