Joplin Mayor: It's a nice day to shelter in place

Joplin Mayor Gary Shaw found a ray of sunshine on a day when there wasn't any.

Referring to the rainy weather outside during this morning's COVID-19 briefing, Shaw said, "It's a great day to shelter in place."

Though his statement was brief, Shaw managed to quote Mother Teresa and revealed that during a visit to New York, he smiled at a lot of people and they smiled back.

Of course, that was before social distancing.







Shaw encouraged Joplin residents to continue social distancing and following proper hygienic practices.

"Every day, we're making progress. We are moving in the right direction. We need to keep doing what we're doing a little longer and we're going to get where we want to go."

Shaw said city officials are working on a plan to reopen the city, something that was echoed during Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce President Toby Teeter's portion of the briefing.

Teeter said Joplin and state officials are working on the first phase of returning to normal, scheduled to take place when the statewide stay-at-home order is lifted May 3.

"What we're talking about is what May 4 will look like."