ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - All City of St. Louis parks will remain open, and Mayor Lyda Krewson doesn't see that changing anytime soon amid the coronavirus pandemic.
She says it's important for our collective mental health that residents, especially those who live in small apartments with no yard, have a park to walk in.
She says it's still imperative people follow social distancing guidelines because officers can't be everywhere all the time.
"We have 109 parks, so our ability to be in every one of them at peak times is limited," Krewson says.
She also says it would be difficult to enforce the closure of city parks because many "don’t have gates on them." The city has put police tape around playgrounds and blocked access to places like tennis, basketball and pickleball courts.
The city has closed all parks to vehicle traffic, but only some roads in Forest Park. Also, Tower Grove Park will close all roads to vehicle traffic beginning Friday.
Starting Monday, Boston residents were under a recommended curfew of 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Krewson says she's talked about it for the city, but isn't ready to go that far yet.
"I’m trying to think about how to maintain as many freedoms for people as possible and still have a situation that is safe," Krewson says.
Krewson notes an earlier curfew could create a problem for grocery stores and other essential businesses.
"Our grocery stores are open until at least 10 at night and we don’t want to crunch more people into fewer hours to get their food and find essential services," Krewson says.
She understands why Boston initiated a curfew, noting the city is much more densely populated than St. Louis.
African-American deaths in St. Louis from COVID-19
St. Louis health officials are confirming that all of the people who've died in the city from coronavirus were African American. So far, there have been 12 COVID-19-related deaths in St. Louis.
Krewson calls this fact heartbreaking.
"What we're seeing here is decades of inequity in health care and services to the African-American community, a particularly low-income community and so it’s just much more devastating," Krewson says.
The city has seen more than 480 cases of the virus.
Krewson says she wants to get more people tested, but more importantly, reiterate how important social distancing is to reduce the spread of COVID-19.