The 901: Why Memphis decided to delay Phase 3 of its reopening plan

Good Wednesday morning from Memphis! Deciding not to limit themselves to Downtown, protesters expanded their horizons and headed to Cordova to close Germantown Parkway for more than an hour. More on that in a sec, but first...

Following a spike in novel coronavirus cases, Memphis will delay moving to the third phase of the local reopening plan until June 16, a week and a day later than expected.

That's according to our Corinne Kennedy, who in the same article also reports that the city's curfew — which resulted in two arrests in its first night — will continue indefinitely.

Our Sam Hardiman has more on the alarming — if not unexpected — uptick in COVID-19 cases. Shelby County reported 190 new infections yesterday, marking its largest single-day increase since the pandemic began. And that's no fluke, either. Sam, in his article, walks us through the numbers that convinced Strickland to delay Phase 3:

Memphis and Shelby County have been in Phase 2 of the "Back to Business" framework since May 18 and entered Phase 1 on May 4. Over the course of Phase 1, the rolling 14-day case rate actually fell from about 75 new cases a day on May 4 to 65 new cases a day on May 18, according to Commercial Appeal analysis. ...

Phase 2 has not followed that pattern, and that has caused alarm. As of Tuesday, the rolling 14-day rate of new cases was about 102 per day. That had jumped from about 80 per day on May 26.

There's a roughly two-week delay between an infection and when it shows up in the local case count, so don't blame the recent protests for the increase. Two weeks ago, Memphis and the rest of Shelby County had just entered Phase 2, headed toward Memorial Day weekend. That puts the blame squarely on relaxed social distancing.

But don't hurry to push for Memphis to draw back into its Phase 1 shell. As Sam notes in his story, cases were always going to increase as businesses reopened; the trick is to make sure they eventually plateau instead of continuing to rocket upward. 

Speaking of reopening Memphis: Our Bob Mehr looks at when — and how — local live entertainment will return.

County could start mandating masks

To make sure COVID-19 cases plateau instead of climbing, the Shelby County Health Department may take a more aggressive approach to enforcing social distancing.

And yes, that could include a mandate to wear face masks or coverings.

Yesterday, Shelby County Health Officer Bruce Randolph reversed course and said he could reluctantly mandates face masks if social distancing doesn't improve, our Sam reports. Here's Randolph, putting county residents "on notice":

"Let me make everyone aware and be on notice. If our numbers continue to increase, we will have no other choice but to mandate that facial coverings be required of everyone when you are out of your home and you are in the presence of someone else (or) entering into an establishment," he said. 

The Memphis City Council yesterday tabled a toothless ordinance mandating the wearing of face coverings in public, but could bring it back at any time, Sam notes.

A day shy of a month ago, I penned a column saying Memphis should mandate masks during the early phases of the reopening. And no, my opinion hasn't changed despite the state just suspending distribution of its free masks after learning they're laced with a chemical registered as a pesticide. (You can read up on that in yesterday's column.)

Even though free masks aren't being distributed for now, a mandate is very unlikely to result in a financial hardship for people. The mandates being looked at wouldn't require you to wear a mask that makes you look like Bane from "The Dark Knight" (kudos to one of our editors, Jess Rollins, for that joke). Instead, the mandates would require a covering as simple as a strip of cloth or a bandana across the nose and mouth — anything that could stop people from sneezing or coughing the virus into the wider world.

What happened in 7th day of protests

For the seventh day straight, people gathered in Downtown Memphis to protest police brutality and the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.

And, once again, they were largely peaceful protests.

If you haven't followed The Commercial Appeal's recent, comprehensive protest coverage, our Katherine Burgess has a good summary of the first six days and the several minor-in-comparison-to-other-cities clashes between police and protesters.

There were several demonstrations yesterday, led by different people. One of those, led by DeVante Hill at the I AM A MAN Plaza in Downtown, took a turn for the awkward:

Unlike in recent days, there were also protests outside of the confines of Downtown:

A group of roughly 100 protesters, led by Darin Abston, briefly shut down part of Germantown Parkway near the Agricenter.

Memphis Police confirmed both lanes had been closed but declined to say for how long. Abston said the road had shut down traffic for more than an hour, before protesters started leaving around 9 p.m.

There was also another protest at Poplar and Highland near the University of Memphis.

Protesters pay for Winfield's window

Of several senseless acts of minor vandalism during Sunday's protest, perhaps the most senseless was the breaking of black-owned Winfield's Shoes & Accessories on Main.

But, as noted in our story about yesterday's protests and announced by activist Keedran Franklin on Facebook, protesters came together to raise money for the repairs:

That's a wonderful idea, but why stop there? A fund to pay for property damage during protests would go a long way toward winning more sympathy from the broader public.

What else is happening in the 901

• For subscribers: Our Jennifer Chandler is THE go-to source for local restaurant news, and her latest recaps all of the openings and closings that occurred during the spring months. (And if you aren't a subscriber, please consider becoming one.)
• Despite being allowed to reopen, local restaurants and stores are struggling — and one reason for that could be that companies are still allowing tens of thousands of office workers to continue working from home, our Ted Evanoff points out.
• Tennessee is launching a $200 million relief program for small businesses, The Tennessean reports.
• RIP, Jim Green: The longtime Memphis concert promoter has died, our John Beifuss reports.
• Looking for something cool and sweet to beat the heat? Our Jennifer Chandler has five recommendations for where to satisfying your icy treat cravings in Memphis. Also, JChan reports on a new pizzeria coming to the Crosstown Concourse.
• The Republican National Convention is eyeing Nashville, per The Tennessean.

The Fadeout: Tony Manard's latest

Fading us out this morning, Memphian Tony Manard recently released his quarantine-inspired "Together Alone"...

Like The Fadeout? Check out The 901's Spotify playlist

Columnist Ryan Poe writes The 901, a running commentary on all things Memphis. Reach him at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @ryanpoe.

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