MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Every day, it’s the first thing you deal with in the morning. It’s the last thing you deal with at night. Every day for more than eight months, this has been Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland’s life.
It can get to you. It certainly has affected life in Memphis.
“It has affected almost everything we do, from firefighting to police to solid waste - because we’ve had some employees who tested positive or have been quarantined because they have been in close contact, and affected our service levels.”
2020 has been awful. Not only because of a pandemic, but because the pandemic has resulted in a record number of homicides in Memphis.
“Our community centers have been closed for eight months,” said Strickland.
Every day, he sees the statistics. Numbers - numbers of new cases, total cases, the numbers of people hospitalized. And deaths - how many people died in the last day, how many died since March.
“I feel a level of personal responsibility,” Mayor Strickland said. “I was elected to lead. All of those numbers - those deaths affect me.”