Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday that the state’s order for Tennesseans to remain at home due to COVID-19 will expire April 30.
Lee also said the vast majority of businesses in 89 counties are allowed to re-open 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,” Lee said Monday.
“These businesses will open according to specific guidance that we will provide in accordance with state and national experts in both medicine and business.”
The Lee Administration will work with officials in Shelby, Madison, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, and Sullivan 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,” Lee said.
“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.”
As The Star reported last week, Lee said government and private-sector officials are working to reopen the state’s economy in May.
The Economic Recovery Group is composed of 30 leaders from the public and private sector is crafting guidance to assist businesses in a safe reopening.
Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge), in a statement, called Lee “flexible and data-focused.”
“Due to the Safer at Home order, the curve is flattening and damage to the public health has been minimized. We are testing more Tennesseans than ever and that will continue,” McNally said.
“We are now well-prepared for a cautious reopening and economic reboot. Our state has consistently balanced the health of our people with the health of our economy. That remains the case today as we prepare to reestablish Tennessee’s strong and structurally sound economy.”
As The Tennessee Star reported Monday, an estimated 750 people participated in the #FreeTN event held at the State Capitol in Nashville Sunday in response to the extension of the statewide stay-at-home order.
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Thank you Governor Lee for having a level of common sense that is sorely lacking in other States. When the final analysis of this whole Chinese virus issue is completed, hopefully those that were responsible for the virus and those who attempted to used it for political gain will be exposed and held accountable. This has provided Americans the experience of what it would be like to be ruled by the Socialists. All you have to do is look at each state by how it’s mandates were written and applied, and which political party is in control.
I would like to link below a couple of articles I read this morning that expose the Left for what it is.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/04/the_wuhan_virus_highlights_the_huge_intellectual_schism_in_america.html
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/04/the_economic_shutdown_of_america_when_the_system_fails_righteous_men_will_rise_up.html
The Democrats have latched onto the virus in yet another attempt destroy President Trump and the prosperity of our Nation. The globalist/socialists cannot stand the success our Nation was enjoying due to our free market economy and President Trump’s excellent leadership. And to read how AOC was gloating over the temporary fall in the price of crude oil is just another example of their distorted view of reality. Their hatred for traditional America is off the chart and there will be a day of reckoning.