Staff at Greenwood Leflore Hospital will receive face masks with the help of a recent donation from the city of Greenwood.
During its Tuesday meeting, the Greenwood City Council unanimously voted to appropriate $1,000 to purchase 296 filters for masks for health-care workers treating COVID-19 patients.
This was the second time the council met on Zoom, an online teleconference platform, in order to practice social distancing in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Mississippi State Department of Health recently recommended that all hospital staff, including those who don’t come in direct contact with patients, wear masks. On its Facebook page, Greenwood Leflore Hospital implored the community to donate hand-sewn masks.
In another matter pertaining to the novel coronavirus, the council unanimously adopted the curfew Mayor Carolyn McAdams issued last week.
The curfew of 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., which is in effect through April 20, requires residents to stay inside their homes unless they have work or a medical emergency. Residents can be fined $1,000 if they violate the curfew without a suitable reason.
“No one wants to take extreme measures, but we are forced to do so because some people aren’t taking this pandemic seriously,” McAdams said.
Police Chief Jody Bradley said police spent last weekend educating residents about the curfew before enforcing it.
The council voted to approve the mayor’s curfew in order to record it in the meeting’s minutes.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 26 reported cases of the coronavirus in Leflore County, according to the state Health Department. Four deaths in the county have been attributed to the virus.
In other business:
• Ward 6’s David Jordan complained about piles of litter found in his ward as well as throughout South Greenwood that weren’t picked up by the city.
Other members of the council also chimed in to say that it’s been a problem for their wards.
“I can tell you all our wards are probably having the problem you are,” Council President Ronnie Stevenson told Jordan.
Susan Bailey, director of the city’s public works department, said the city currently has four trash trucks but only three drivers. If a driver is sick, that reduces the manpower further, she said.
McAdams said the city is holding off on hiring another driver since she fears that a new person could be an asymptomatic carrier of the coronavirus and infect other employees.
• The council declared a state of emergency for a manhole and sewage line that collapsed last week at the intersection at Weightman Street and Park Avenue. The collapse led to a cave-in.
A pump at the corner of East Wilson Avenue and Weightman Street, and the bypass pumps connected to it, carries sewage in lieu of the collapsed line. The sewage eventually goes to a pumping station located on the levee along East Claiborne Avenue, Eddie Curry, director of the city’s wastewater division, explained.
For the time being, the intersection has been closed off while the city works to install a new sewage pipe and manhole.
• McAdams said construction for the Fulton Street renovation project will begin April 14.
The project will add period lighting and revamp sidewalks and crosswalks, similar to work done on Howard and Main streets in the past.
•Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
