BROWNSVILLE, TN – Mayor William D. Rawls, Jr.is hosting a news conference on Monday, August 17, 2020, at 1:00 p.m.on the steps of Brownsville City Hall to raise public awareness about the impact of COVID-19 in the community and to make a plea to local citizens to level up the seriousness of this rural health crisis.

Mayor Rawls will be joined by Joey Hassell, Haywood County Schools Superintendent, who will announce public safety efforts ahead of the opening of schools. In addition, a West Tennessee Healthcare representative plans to communicate how the drastic increase of COVID-19 cases in Haywood County places a strain on surrounding hospitals especially Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Jackson, TN.

Brownsville is the largest city in Haywood County and is currently number one in the State of Tennessee for new daily coronavirus cases. Mayor Rawls calls this a rural health crisis because of the 2014 hospital closure which makes this COVID-19 global pandemic even more problematic for this rural community.