Safety precautions to flatten the curve working, officials say

JACKSON, Tenn. — Why are officials allowing businesses to reopen in Jackson and Madison County? They say it’s because of you.

“It works. Social distancing works. It’s a proven method in public health to flatten the curve,” said Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department Director Kim Tedford.

That’s one of the messages health officials are pushing right now, since our area has yet to see a surge in coronavirus cases.

“Instead of saying, ‘this is all hype’ and ‘it didn’t turn out to be what it was,’ let’s pat ourselves on the back and say, ‘we helped this not be what it could have been’,” Tedford said.

They say another part of the reason our area has done so well is that they’re all working together.

“So I think from the very beginning, we’ve come together: both mayors, the hospital, public health, the utility districts, our chamber, all of us that meet every morning and talk about everything that’s going on,” Tedford said.

“We collaborated in every decision, no matter the difficulty of the decision. It was made in a consensus,” said City of Jackson Mayor Scott Conger.

“Because of that, we had restrictions on earlier than the state did,” said Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris. “I think that’s been an important part of the numbers we have right now.”

But, the next seven to ten days are crucial to figuring out where we stand.

“I will stress to everybody, and I was out to Lowe’s this weekend. There were lots of people out, and that’s a good thing. We’re very proud of that. But I did see many people without a face covering on,” Mayor Harris said. “I implore you, if you go into a business, have a face covering on. That is going to be the key if we’re going to be able to open businesses and eventually move to gatherings and things like that.”

West Tennessee Healthcare CEO James Ross said they are starting elective procedures again today, and plan on bringing some employees back from furlough.