Boundaries between states are archaic, invisible lines that have little connection to how people work, move or spend money. Those lines shouldn't determine a response to the COVID-19 crisis.

It was an early spring that year too – 1878 – as Mardi Gras celebrations in Memphis ended and news of yellow fever erupted. Even though the outbreak was in another country, ship trade made everyone our neighbor. And, Memphis was a major hub, webbed by train tracks and edged by riverboats.

When the hospital asked, my cousin was among those who said they’d be comfortable working with patients who tested positive for the virus. Now, some of her coworkers avoid her. 

Confined to our homes and apartments, Jews across Memphis, America and the world will impart the same timeless lessons of Passover via Zoom and digital touchpoints instead of large in-person seder gatherings.

Commercial construction zones have mandates regarding hard hats and goggles. Fire marshals monitor occupancy levels in clubs and other settings. Shelby County and other local governments should take a leadership role to mandate rules for retailers and other employers during the pandemic.

Memphis has always been a religious city. We will rise to the occasion, because we are a city driven by the engine of faith. 

By taking a chance on playing a concert at Rhodes College, Marsalis gave the Curb Institute credibility and paved the way for appearances by George Coleman, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Harold Mabern and Charles Lloyd.

This pandemic has awakened us to the fragility of our economy, which depends heavily on small business, hourly wages and gig economy workers. Maybe we are on the precipice of a revolution. Great crises usually inspire great change.

COVID-19 is three to five times more infectious than the flu, and up to 10 times more deadly. It can infect your entire respiratory tract from top to bottom. This is why so many victims wind up in an ICU on a ventilator. This is why young, healthy adults can die from it.

Conferring with a medical professional by video helps individuals avoid hospitals, where they risk infecting others or coming into contact with disease.

Most people I’ve spoken to in business and health care are questioning the old ways. What’s the point of these massive office buildings, inefficient meetings and travel? The new ways will save money and free up time, so why go back? 

Critics have said that because detainees of Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County are juveniles and have not been convicted of a crime, they don’t pose a threat to the community. That makes for a good soundbite, but let’s pull back the curtain on one given day and review why these juveniles are in detention.

The first death from COVID-19 was reported in Shelby County March 28. For a while, we didn’t know that, because the governor wasn’t releasing deaths with county names.

Great things have come of being home and self-quarantined. For example, I’ve started reading again – reading voraciously. It started when my mom cleaned out the attic a week ago and found a box of my dad’s old books, including Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series.

Years from now, our children won’t remember the details of their classes or what exactly they learned in a class during this season. But they will never forget how you made them feel.

This time together will be an exercise in partnership with your children. Define the home as a supportive place for each family member.

I have missed entire seasons of music, art and drama for no good reason at all. Now that they’re closed, they’re all I can think about. 

Between March 12 and March 24, we distributed 1,267,630 pounds of food (154% increase), held 43 Mobile Pantry distributions (330% increase) and served 11,036 households (283% increase). 

Rev. Brad Whitaker was Hamilton County’s first confirmed COVID-19 case. Church leaders and county health officials began notifying anyone who had come in contact with him. That list included Bishop Phoebe Roaf of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee.

We are suffering the consequences of a delayed national response in the deployment of test kits and relatively limited access to basic protection equipment for health providers.

Common symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath are touted by the CDC as clues that a person could be infected. In addition, there are new reports that patients with sudden anosmia, a loss of one’s sense of smell, could be infected with the virus.

Tomorrow when someone takes my temperature and hands me a mask and a paper bag, I’ll remember that everybody I’m about to see is also adjusting to new realities.

Yesterday I scraped up someone’s leaky trash bags from the side of the road and threw them into the back of a truck to haul off. It’s hard to believe just two weeks ago I was planning parties, booking bands and editing menus.

For the next four weeks, Explore Bike Share rentals are free of charge to all Memphians, 24/7. 

Coronavirus has disrupted some of my friends’ lives far more than it’s unsettled mine. My senior friends won’t get to have graduation. And my international friends have a real dilemma: Should they stay in the States or go home?