A Message From Mayor Stimpson May 7, 2020
May 7th, 2020
Good evening,
It is 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, and I am writing to give you an update on the City of Mobile's efforts regarding COVID-19.
As of tonight, there are 1,355 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mobile County, out of 10,454 total tests. There are 78 deaths attributed to the virus.
We continue to make steady progress in our testing capability. Today, in partnership with USA Health, we completed testing of employees at the Mobile Metro Jail.
We set up a test site to help Sheriff Sam Cochran deal with an emerging outbreak of COVID-19 at the jail. Tragically, a member of the jail's medical staff died of complications from Coronavirus this week. We hope that our assistance will help the county to prevent any further loss of life.
We continue to try and obtain Personal Protective Equipment to help our partners who are in need. These items are in short supply nationwide, and we have been able to use our relationships to help meet the need locally.
Today I received a text from a close friend who offered to donate a couple of thousand pairs of gloves, which are sorely needed, as well as Tyvek suits. We are distributing them to those who are in the greatest need, so we can continue to support our health care providers.
On Wednesday, we began accepting applications for our "Ignite Mobile" program, in which we set aside $500,000 to provide grants to businesses suffering as a result of Coronavirus.
In less than 24 hours, we received more than 200 applications! We are reviewing them as quickly as possible so that we can have checks ready to distribute as soon as the City Council gives us the approval. We hope they will do so at their next scheduled meeting on Tuesday.
Please remember to fill out your Census form if you haven't done so already. It takes less than 10 minutes, and doing so will have a tremendously positive impact on our city and state for the next 10 years. You can complete it online at www.2020Census.gov.
Today is National Day of Prayer across America. I woke up this morning and had it on my heart to call my friend Roy Ridgeway. Some of you may know Roy from his shoeshine stand at the RSA Battle House Tower.
What you may not know is that Roy also has a church. When we spoke, he invited me to come and see it. So, I made a quick decision to go and meet him. We went inside and, in an unexpected blessing, we agreed to pray together.
We prayed for our city, our state and our nation. We prayed for those who are grieving and those who are sick from this terrible virus. We prayed for our health care workers and for those who working so hard to take care of us. And we prayed for those who are struggling to pay the rent, to buy groceries or even buy medicine.
We also prayed for you. I know that you may be in need of help tonight. These are turbulent times for all of us. I believe that God is doing things in our community that are beyond our understanding, and that He can bring us out of any trouble we encounter.
My prayer tonight is that you have peace, and that you and your loved ones are safe from harm.
Sincerely,
Mayor Sandy Stimpson