Tag: COVID

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Opinion The Last Word

2020: The Year We Grieved

CREDIT: Herbert Goetsch | Unsplash

I started this year as many do — ready to embark on new goals, embrace new beginnings, welcome a new year with hope. 2020 vision, we all said. What could go wrong?

My birthday is in January. I can’t remember what I did on what must have been an uneventful turn of age in 2020. February, too, is a bit of a blur. What marked the real start of this year — at least where my lasting memory of it will forever be marked — was grief.

A longtime friend overdosed on heroin in early March. She’d struggled with opioid addiction and substance abuse for years. I tried to help her through much of it, offering a place to stay, clothes and food when she’d lost everything (which was every few months), and connecting her to resources that could help with recovery. She had at least two false starts in rehab. After a couple months in the last one, she snuck out and had her final dance with a needle. I remember the moment I read the Facebook message: “I just wanted you to know that Kristin is in ICU in Methodist North from a heroin overdose. Doctor said that she will more than likely not make it.”

Herbert Goetsch | Unsplash

Looking with hope toward 2021

The punch in the pit of my gut, the pang in my heart, the panic. I spent the better part of that week at Methodist visiting my friend, who was in a coma, as doctors ran tests to be sure nothing else could be done, to sort out possible organ donation in the likely case that nothing could. Between my visits, the news was abuzz with the novel coronavirus. Cases had spread in Washington and it was beginning to look as though it was going to be a pretty big deal, even here. Face masks weren’t a thing yet, but every time I walked into the hospital, I wondered if I was at risk for COVID. Was someone infected there? Was this all being blown out of proportion? I stopped at sanitizing stations and rubbed my hands down to be safe.

At the end of an emotionally draining week, my friend was taken off life support. Her memorial service was the last large gathering I attended this year. I carried hand sanitizer, avoided hugs with anyone aside from Kristin’s mother, and winced when someone coughed or sneezed nearby. Had they not heard of coronavirus yet? There are too many people in this room, too close together, I thought.

I grieved for Kristin, of course, but not in the way I would have if it wouldn’t have coincided with the emergence of a worldwide pandemic. I’ve grieved for her throughout this year, but with no hugs, no face-to-face conversations with friends who knew and loved her, too. My sadness over her loss was inadvertently overridden by a new punch in the gut, a different type of panic — one I wasn’t familiar with at all. How many people will die? Will I die? How bad is this virus? How far will it spread?

As the next few months unfolded, we all grieved. We grieved for lost jobs, loved ones who succumbed to COVID. We grieved in the absence of friends and family, for the loss of “normalcy,” whatever that might have been. We pined for gatherings, concerts, theater outings, for any thread of hope that this mess would right itself. We longed for conversations, handshakes, workplace camaraderie, a beer at a damn bar. The world turned upside down, and we were given no clear instructions on how to best proceed. There was no united front.

In some ways, I’m relieved that Kristin’s struggle ended just before the world’s battle with COVID began. She’d likely have been on the streets, risking infections of all types, but perhaps especially the virus. She wouldn’t have had a safe haven like some of us have, nor easy access to soap and showers and sinks. There are many others like her — homeless, struggling with addiction or mental illness, isolated in the truest sense.

With all that’s been lost this year, I’m more grateful than ever for what I do have. A roof over my head, a job (though we’ve been working remotely since March and I miss the shit out of my co-workers), a partner who handles my COVID-fueled existential crises in stride, and so much more.

If you’re reading this now, you have survived this year, too. Perhaps we’ve been through the worst of it. At the very least, we can look at these broken pieces and be thankful for what’s left and how far we’ve come — and to look with hope toward 2021.

Shara Clark is managing editor of the Flyer.

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News News Blog

MATA Rolls Into ‘Cashless Economy’ With App, Website

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

Last week Memphis Area Transit Authority launched a redesigned website and new app aimed towards modernizing and streamlining its bus service.

The app, GO901 Mobile, is a free mobile fare app that allows passengers to purchase single fare tickets and all-day passes on their smartphones using a debit or credit card. The app also enables users to add money to and manage their account balance allowing them to buy multiple passes or tickets and store them for future use.

Once downloaded, riders will be able to hit the “use ticket” or “use pass” button to display their single-use ticket or all-day pass. They then need only to scan their pass on the scanners located in the front of MATA vehicles.  

With the launch of the app, MATA also rolled out a new version of its website. The changes included a new sleek design as well as integration for the new mobile app. The website allows users to more easily manage their account balance and ticket purchases with the new GO901 app.

“A few years ago, we began making a concerted effort to improve communications by implementing a series of actionable recommendations,” said MATA spokeswoman Nicole Lacey. “When we met with key stakeholders at that time, one of the biggest takeaways was that we needed to improve the mobile interactivity of the website. We think we have accomplished that and hope that visitors find it to be more appealing, more informative, and more engaging.”

The redesigned website and new app are the most recent changes in a long line of modernization efforts by MATA. Last December, MATA began offering wi-fi access on all of its fixed-route buses, para-transit vehicles, and rail trolley cars. The next step for MATA will be the implementation of new ticket vending machines and point of sale systems.

While MATA had plans to introduce new buying options before the outbreak of COVID-19, the pandemic heightened the need to offer cashless fare options.

“We’re seeing all across the country how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more industries — including public transportation — to take a second look at how to operate in a cashless economy,” said MATA Chief Executive Officer Gary Rosenfeld. “With the introduction of the new GO901 mobile app, it will hopefully remove the fears associated with the virus and paper money as well as offering passengers more convenient payment options and the possibility of attracting new customers who don’t want to carry cash or go to the transit centers to purchase passes.”

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Film Features Film/TV

Fight Like a Girl: Can Mulan Save Disney From the Pandemic?

On February 25th, Bob Iger unexpectedly resigned as CEO of Disney. During his 15-year tenure, he oversaw the rise of the House of Mouse into the most powerful entertainment company in the world. In retrospect, his 2009 decision to acquire Marvel Entertainment, and the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd., led to Disney dominating the box office to an extent never seen before in the history of the film business.

So why, on an unassuming Tuesday in February, did he quit “effective immediately”? I think it’s because he saw COVID coming. Disney, like all the Hollywood studios, have long focused on breaking into the Chinese market. In February, the reports out of Wuhan were dire, and it was clear that the disease was poised to spread unchecked across the world. Two weeks later, the rest of America figured it out, too.

The coronavirus pandemic has done huge damage to the film industry. Theaters, a high-risk environment, were shut down immediately. They have only recently reopened overseas and are still closed in many parts of America. Film production at the scale of Mulan is a logistical challenge rivaled only by military mobilization. Now that projects are returning to shooting, pandemic precautions are adding upwards of 25 percent to budgets. Even worse for Disney, the pandemic shut down their theme parks, a major cash cow — initial estimates put the loss for the year at $280 million. Iger did the math and decided to go out on top and leave it to others to save the day.

Anything you can do, Mulan can do better — Yifei Liu (above and below) jumps at the chance to swing a sword for her country in Mulan, now streaming on the Disney+ platform.

Mulan was the biggest Disney release consigned to pandemic limbo. It is the epitome of the international strategy pursued by the studio. When you drop $200 million on a movie, it has to have very, very wide appeal. And since there are a billion people in China, many of whom have newly minted middle-class incomes, setting your movie there just makes good sense.

“The Ballad of Mulan” was first written down in about 550 CE, but it is believed to be much older. Hua Mulan, the female warrior who disguised her gender to fight for her emperor, is as deeply ingrained in Chinese culture as Robin Hood in English folklore. In other words, she’s the perfect protagonist to build a Disney movie around. And indeed, she already got the animated musical treatment in 1998, complete with a dragon sidekick.

Directed by Niki Caro, and budgeted at a breathtaking $200 million, Mulan is the first of Disney’s live-action remakes not to feel like an egregious waste of time and resources. The musical elements have been removed and the dragon sidekick has been replaced with a phoenix that the heroine occasionally hallucinates. Instead, the story gets a straight wuxia treatment — the Chinese story genre whose name translates to “marshall heroes” in which kung fu fighters are blessed with superhuman powers through their mastery of the life force, “qi.” Hugely popular in China, wuxia is familiar to Western audiences through the high-flying wire work of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Mulan is played by Yifei Liu, a Chinese-American actor and model who is well-known in China. Director Caro puts her through the Hero’s Journey paces, with one notable exception. In Joseph Campbell’s formulation, the hero must first hear the call of adventure, then refuse it, before finally being forced into action by forces beyond their control. Mulan never refuses the call. She is already being held back from her destiny by the patriarchal forces of traditional Chinese society, as personified by the village matchmaker (Pei-Pei Cheng, a veteran of both the Shaw Brothers’ legendary Hong Kong studio and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.) When her aged father Zhou (Tzi Ma) is called up to protect the realm against invasion by the forces of Böri Khan (Jason Scott Lee) and the witch Xianniang (Li Gong), Mulan jumps at the chance to swing a sword in drag.

Unlike some movies in the $100-million club, Mulan puts the money on the screen. There are sweeping vistas of bamboo forests and a sprawling set-piece battle that takes visual inspiration from the climax of Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus. Like Daisy Ridley’s Rey in the Disney-fied Star Wars, Liu hits her marks with a flawless physicality, but never emotes much more than a dutiful jaw-clench. Caro knows how to deploy the Spielberg punch-in to keep the action coherent, though things do get a bit muddled at the end as Mulan races to save the emperor (Jet Li). While expertly made, the whole thing seems bloodless and restrained, and definitely conservative.

With the theatrical situation uncertain, Disney decided to punt on Mulan in America, releasing it as an add-on to the Disney+ streaming service, and go with a full theatrical release in China, where the virus is under control. The streaming numbers are unknown, but the Chinese audiences so far have not shown up. Mulan is an artistic success, but Disney, who six months ago was at the helm of the global film business, now seems rudderless.

Mulan Now streaming on Disney+

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News News Blog

Domestic Violence Rises During Pandemic

CREDIT: Shelby County Crime Commission

Shelby County Crime Commission

The Shelby County Crime Commission announced a sharp increase in domestic violence aggravated assaults during the months of May, June, and July.

Data released by the Memphis Police department showed a 21 percent increase throughout Shelby County. May was exceptionally bad, with the month showing almost a 30 percent increase in reported domestic violence aggravated assaults.

Shelby County Crime Commission

Though not explicitly stated by the Shelby County Crime Commission, it was inferred that quarantine conditions could have led to an increase in domestic violence calls. Prior to nationwide lockdown efforts, domestic violence aggravated assaults in Shelby County had been down almost 7 percent for the year.

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News News Blog

COVID Puts a Damper on Memphis Animal Welfare Group’s Rescue Operations

CREDIT: Streetdog Foundation

Streetdog Foundation

For years, the Streetdog Foundation has been one of the leading groups working to ensure the welfare of animals in Memphis. The group works to identify feral and stray dogs and rehabilitate them through a system of foster homes, until they can be adopted outright.

The group, which is comprised entirely of volunteers, has faced struggles due to limitations put in place by the COVID-19 pandemic. SDF Media Coordinator Laura Lines says one of the main problems faced by the group is trying to balance the safety of volunteers with the needs of dogs in Memphis.

“We follow government and state guidelines, so we have been hesitant to call on a lot of volunteers for an event. Even though we would like to, we can’t do the big organized rescues that we used to do. Typically we have more than 10 people during those events because it takes a whole crew to get our goals accomplished. COVID has really stopped our ability to be able to save a large intake of animals due to use not being able to be in groups.”

The humane and empathetic rescue approach that the SDF uses in their rescues has been another source of their struggles during the COVID pandemic. Though they employ the use of traps, the SDF will stay nearby watching the traps on a camera or in-person to ensure the animals aren’t exposed to the elements for too long. This means that volunteers can spend hours close to one and another, potentially creating a health hazard.

“Very rarely do we get a dog where we open the door and they jump in the car. When it’s a more feral dog, a dog that has been on their own for a while, or a dog that has been mistreated by humans, they are not going to just know we are good people. A lot of the rescue is building a relationship with the dog over a couple of weeks. It may not happen on the first day we go out. It might take weeks before they know our car or they know our scent and trust us enough to come with us. Building that relationship has been hard with many of us not being able to leave our homes.”

Networking and fundraising have also been issues for SDF. The group regularly operates with about 120 volunteers. Though they do have room to board dogs that have undergone medical procedures or are being transferred elsewhere, dogs are kept with fosters. They also rely on community donations to provide services to the community. In the past, they have been able to solve these problems through community events, but as of late they have been struggling.

“The biggest impact to our organization has been not being able to hold in-person fundraising events. It’s sort of a trickle-down problem because those events are where we meet new volunteers and new fosters. It’s been hard because not only are we monetarily suffering we are also struggling to find new people who we can invite to join us in doing the volunteer work.”

Despite their setback, SDF has been working tirelessly to ensure that dogs are safely taken off the streets and given new homes. Though they have been unable to host in-person fundraising events they have plans to transition their in-person fundraising event, Howl At the Moon, into an online experience. To find out more or to help support SDF, visit their website.

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News News Blog

Christ Community Health Services Moves COVID-19 Drive-Through Testing Site

Monday, Christ Community Health Services announced that it would be moving its drive-through COVID-19 testing site to expand access to testing services.

As of Monday, August 31st, all drive-through testing is being done at 1720 RKS Commercial Cove. Testing will continue to take place Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Chief nursing and quality officer Shayla Williamson says the move will allow for more testing to be done.

“The move allows us to increase our ability to test up to 500 individuals daily. We are encouraging people to pre-register to help speed the testing process,” she says. “Those wishing to be tested are asked to text: Test2020 to 91999 or call Christ Community at 901-842-3160. The Lamar site will allow for limited testing of individuals who have not pre-registered.”

Christ Church began testing in early March and has tested over 20,000 individuals with drive through testing at their Third Street and Hickory Hills locations.

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News News Blog

Partnership Formed to Combat PPE Waste

The Tennessee Department of Transportation, Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation, and Keep Tennessee Beautiful announced a three-way partnership on Tuesday, August 18th. The partnership aims to reduce personal protective equipment litter and educate the public on proper PPE and single-use mask disposal.

“This partnership is a response to a rise in PPE litter, which TDOT has begun to notice on rights-of-way, and how we, as state agencies, can work together to share one impactful message,” TDOT Commissioner Clay Bright said.

TDOT Commissioner Clay Bright

Through the partnership, the groups will release a series of posts highlighting proper PPE disposal. Posts and additional messaging will be shared electronically by all three entities and made available through KTnB and their statewide network of affiliates. Proper PPE disposal has also been worked into TDOT’s “Nobody Trashes Tennessee” litter prevention campaign.

All social media posts will center around three main points:

  • Single-use masks, gloves, and wipes should not be placed into any recycling containers or disposed of on the ground. Improper disposal creates health and environmental hazards.
  • All PPE should be properly disposed of in a trash receptacle.
  • Wearing a reusable or cloth mask instead of single-use masks can reduce the amount of PPE waste going to landfills and help fight the spread of COVID-19.

“In these unusual times, unusual problems arise, and the litter of personal protective equipment is an example,” TDEC Commissioner David Salyers said. “We encourage all Tennesseans to be mindful of this issue and maintain their commitment to the beauty of our state. We are grateful to TDOT and Keep Tennessee Beautiful for their partnership in this effort.”

TDOT spends $15 million annually on litter pickup and prevention education. Through its efforts, the amount of roadside litter has decreased by 43 percent since 2006. Despite this, nearly 100 million pieces of litter occur on Tennessee roadsides at any given time.

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News News Blog

SCHD Reports 197 New COVID-19 cases, 7 New Deaths

As of Wednesday, August 5th, the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) reported 197 new COVID-19 cases. That brings the county’s total number of confirmed and probable cases up to 22,317. The most recent 7-day rolling positivity rate data (from July 30th) puts the positivity rate at 10.6 percent, with a 7-day moving average of 239 cases. *New case counts in each SCHD graph usually lag by four to five days.

The overall positivity rate of Shelby County, however, now stands at 10.6 percent. To date, the county has performed 210,903 tests. There are currently 4,758 active COVID-19 cases.

SCHD also reported seven new deaths, bringing the number of fatal cases up to 293.

Below is case demographic data provided by SCHD.

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Resource Center

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Resource Center

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Resource Center

Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 Resource Center

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News News Blog

Health Department Reports 207 New COVID Cases

As of Tuesday, August 4th, the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) reported 207 new COVID-19 cases. That brings the county’s total number of confirmed and probable cases up to 22,120. The most recent 7-day rolling positivity rate data (from July 29th) puts the positivity rate at 15.9 percent, with a 7-day moving average of 239 cases. *New case counts in each SCHD graph usually lag by four to five days.

The overall positivity rate of Shelby County, however, now stands at 10.5 percent. To date, the county has performed 209,863 tests. There are currently 5,035 active COVID-19 cases.

SCHD also reported two new deaths, bringing the number of fatal cases up to 286.

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News News Blog

Shelby County Schools to Go All-Virtual This Fall

Shelby County Schools to Go All-Virtual This Fall


As the numbers of confirmed COVID–19 cases continue to rise in Memphis, Shelby County Schools superintendent Dr. Joris M. Ray announced Monday that the district will begin its school year fully virtual starting on August 31st.

The move came amid growing national pressure for schools to remain closed due to the COVID–19 pandemic. However, Ray cited the growing number of cases and uncertainty of the pandemic as major factors in the decision. 

“Safety signage, spacing desks, more hand sanitizer, and masks simply cannot make a school safe in a community that is experiencing a daily triple-digit increase of virus cases,” Ray said in a video announcement. “There are more than 18,000 cases of COVID-19 in Shelby County — a 9.3% positivity rate and growing. Science tells us that by September, our community will reach the same trajectory as New York City, and this figure does not account for the students returning to school.”

Teachers will have the option to teach remotely or in classrooms, but all students will rely on remote learning until further notice.

To supplement the process all students will be given a digital device and have the opportunity for an internet hotspot, based on need. Shelby County Schools will also continue to provide meals for students and accommodations to students who receive special education services.