Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has announced the state's stay-at-home order will expire April 30, with the vast majority of businesses in 89 of the 95 counties allowed to re-open on May 1. (Image: Gov. Bill Lee)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has announced the state's stay-at-home order will expire April 30, with the vast majority of businesses in 89 of the 95 counties allowed to re-open on May 1.
“Our Economic Recovery Group is working with industry leaders around the clock so that some businesses can open as soon as Monday, April 27,” said Gov. Lee. “These businesses will open according to specific guidance that we will provide in accordance with state and national experts in both medicine and business.”
However, Lee’s announcement does not apply to the state’s counties with the largest cities, including Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Shelby and Sullivan counties — areas that are not overseen by Tennessee’s Department of Health but have their own public health districts.
The governor's office says they will work with these counties and their health departments as they plan their own re-open strategies.
“While I am not extending the safer at home order past the end of April, we are working directly with our major metropolitan areas to ensure they are in a position to reopen as soon and safely as possible,” said Lee. “Social distancing works, and as we open up our economy it will be more important than ever that we keep social distancing as lives and livelihoods depend on it.”
The news comes as the Tennessee Health Department reported at least 7,238 confirmed cases of the virus in the state Monday, including 152 deaths. 3,575 people have recovered, and 730 are hospitalized. Tennessee has tested a total of 100,689 people.
The Economic Recovery Group (ERG) is working on guidance to help businesses safely reopen. Find more information here.
Governor Lee's stay-at-home order has been met with resistance by many, including large crowds who gathered in Nashville Sunday and Monday, claiming Lee's order goes against their constitutional rights.
Lee responded to protesters during Monday's news conference, saying that "these shutdowns occurred in order to save people's lives, and Tennesseans needed to do and that was to put in place the measures and to follow those measures, to do just what was necessary to stop the spread of a deadly virus."
Lee acknowledged that small businesses have especially struggled through the shutdown, but emphasized the important role social distancing has had and will continue to have as the state's economy reopens.
"For the good of our state, social distancing must continue, but our economic shut down will not," said Lee.
The governor says he believes the state can change the way we do business in order to keep a safe distance and avoid a possible resurgence of the virus. He also says the health department will watch each county and quickly develop a plan to address an possible spike in cases.
Lee's announcement to expire the stay-at-home order has also drawn criticism from some. A group of Tennessee doctors says ending the order too soon will fuel the virus and give it more places to spread.
Dr. Aaron Milstone, a pulmonologist treating COVID-19 patients and the organizer of nearly 10,000 healthcare workers who petitioned Governor Lee to issue the order in the first place, responded to Lee's announcement Monday:
"Rolling back health protections like the stay at home order without first the ability to quickly identify new cases, break chains of transmission, and protect first responders and health care workers from infection only jeopardizes lives and the economy and it goes against the very recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control announced today," said Dr. Milstone in part. "Governor Lee, to re-open the economy, needs to use the power of the government to scale protection for first responders and health care workers from infection, contact tracing and isolation that breaks chains of transmission when they are discovered, and finally scale regular routine, rapid testing since because just because a test shows you uninfected today, you could get it tomorrow and we need systems for rapid testing, isolation and protection to open the economy safely."
This is a developing story and will be updated as we learn more.