April 22, 2020
Art by William Humphreys
We are home bound. We are social distancing. And for many, time is tiresome and worry-filled. And the day is beautiful, today. It is cooler than it has been in several days, and the sky is clear. As one of my friends said "Let us enjoy the cleaner air and the empty streets."
In the meantime, here is what I know about testing sites:
For those of you who were disappointed in not getting to the Farm Share distribution site at the Gibson Bethel Community Center early enough, here is the rest of April's list that I garnered from the Farm Share website:
You can get more information about where to enter distribution sites and who are the sponsors by going on line and clicking on the link for the flyers.
It is important that we be careful about relaxing our guard. Donna Shalala wrote some good words today:
"Reopening the country prematurely is unspeakably dangerous. Thanks to stay-at-home orders and social distancing, we have succeeded in flattening the curve, but public health experts agree that we have a lot more work to do before life can return to normal. We need to follow the advice of public health officials and scientists and provide communities with the resources they need to weather closure for however long it must take so that coronavirus infections and deaths do not spike once we loosen restrictions. . . .
It’s really tough to be under a stay-at-home order. Having to take such extreme measures and stay inside is frustrating, demoralizing, and terrifying. The economic closure has forced too many families into impossible situations in which they are struggling to support themselves financially. . . .
This is a horrible situation for anyone to be in, but the worst thing we can do right now is relax restrictions prematurely. If we do this, we will have another outbreak. Infection rates will spike, hospitals will become overwhelmed again, and more people will die. But if we wait a little longer and rely on science to guide policy, we can help ensure that when we reopen the country, it will stay open."
Join our Congresswoman, Joe Corradino and me tomorrow evening.
Click here to be connected to the Zoom meeting: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76051491997?pwd=elJoQjhnMERXNXFqNmZHSjdjbVIJdz09. Notice that the password is 005595@RepShalala.
I have been thinking about the questions I will ask. Two of them are: (1) How can South Miami get most testing sites and more in-home testing? and (2) How can South Miami go about getting sewers and water hooked up to the county systems? Please bring your questions to this Tele-Town Hall Meeting.
Our city staff has been working diligently to set up a system where we can hold a virtual Commission Meeting. All of the Commissioners and I will be getting training next week. Right now staff is working on getting close caption so for our meeting. Stay tuned to find out how you can participate in the May 5th Commission meeting.
Till then, take care, keep healthy and stay safe.
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