On Thursday, December 3, Mayor Harris and Dr. Haushalter, along with 3 municipal mayors hosted a zoom meeting to address our concerns regarding public and industry communication, understanding, and involvement. Ernie Mellor, Mike Miller, Shawn Danko, Steve Voss, Sally Fienup, Deni Reilly, and Kelly English were all in attendance and contributed questions and comments. This was a productive start to furthering our relationship with Mayor Harris and the Health Department. Here are a few key takeaways:
Mayor Harris will be our point person in getting answers and clarification and is committed to increasing the frequency and quality of communications
We set another meeting for 12/17 and will continue to meet regularly
The decision-making process is definitely health-driven but does also take into account some measure of feedback regarding community, economic, and social impact. This is the area we MUST continue to bring balance to.
Data is only part of the decision-making “rationale.” Unfortunately, this means there is no black and white answer as to what and when changes get made.
We reiterated throughout the meeting that future closures should not be on the table. As we all speak with our elected officials, we need to hammer this message home…Closures are not an option!
Federal guidance for Tennessee IS to close restaurants and bars, but Dr Haushalter and Mayor Harris chose not to.
Enclosed tents that do not allow outside air to flow are to be treated with the same limitations as indoor dining. Outdoor dining remains the same with regard to social distance guidelines
The vaccine is coming to Memphis in the coming weeks, but health care workers will be given priority. We did ask that restaurant workers take priority as well as the vaccine comes online.
Our action plan is to submit questions so Mayor Harris for answers and clarity. We are compiling a list of all the comments submitted and discussed leading up to our letter from last week. We will email those questions and answers as well as post them on our website as they come in.
Net of the meeting was positive but did not provide as many answers or affect the change many of us would like to see. This is just the first step of many, though, to our voice being heard as decisions get made.
Membership Renewal
All MRA memberships renew on January 1, 2021. Current MRA members received an email renewal notice on December 1.
If you are set up on auto renewal or auto-pay, you don’t have to do anything (although you still received a renewal reminder).
If you usually pay with a check or pay with a credit card from an invoice, you will still receive both a paper and email invoice from the MRA.
You can easily pay online by logging in here. If you forget your password, you can easily request it through the website. If you need help logging in, feel free to contact us. You are not required to renew online; it can be done manually if you prefer.
Contact us with any questions at all about your membership renewal.
Quarantine can end after Day 10 of exposure without testing and if no symptoms have been reported during daily monitoring.
In some cases, quarantine can end after Day 7 of exposure, if a diagnostic specimen tests negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus and if no symptoms were reported during daily monitoring, but quarantine cannot be discontinued earlier than after Day 7.
In both cases, the quarantined subject must continue to 1. Monitor for signs and symptoms of illness, 2. Wear a mask when around others, and 3. Observe social distancing through Day 14 of exposure.
