Tennessee will now offer free testing for the coronavirus for all of its residents, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced on Wednesday. Testing will be available even to those without “traditional symptoms.”
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Denmark reopened its kindergarten and elementary schools on Wednesday after it closed all schools on March 12, according to the BBC.
The only students that went back to class are kids that are eleven years old or younger, the BBC reported. In Denmark, kids are only required to go to school between the ages of 5 and 16.
Denmark has established certain conditions for students when they returned. For instance, children are not allowed to bring toys from home, and they must have washed their hands before coming to school, the local.dk reported.
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said at a press conference Wednesday that, per his recommendation, the state’s public schools will remain closed through the end of this current school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty of Tennessee announced Tuesday that he has been named to an advisory board that will help the president reopen the nation’s economy.
President Donald Trump is expected to make a formal announcement imminently on his plans to reopen the economy, but Hagerty revealed in a Tuesday statement that the president has asked him to help.
“I have always sought to answer the call to service, and in doing so, I’ve served my state as Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and served my country as the United States Ambassador to Japan. Now, President Trump has asked me to help on the economic advisory board. Team Hagerty will continue to volunteer in Tennessee as we fight the spread of the coronavirus and deal with its effects,” Hagerty said.
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With Tennessee possibly moving toward an economic reopening in May, one looming question is what, if anything, will the state do with people who continue to test positive for COVID-19, especially ensuring that they are staying quarantined.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday he will extend the state’s stay-at-home order through April 30, but he also said government and private-sector officials are working to reopen the state’s economy in May, The Tennessee Star reported.
Lee said this at a televised press conference, adding “we are not out of the woods yet, and it could be some time [before we are].”
“Until a vaccine or a therapy is widely available to Tennesseans, this virus will be a present reality to us to manage and consider whenever we are making decisions,” Lee said.
Lee said that last month he started working with leaders of industry to understand how this pandemic would impact the state’s businesses.
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The Tennessee Department of Health said 633 residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19, but that figure is a cumulative – not current – number.
“This number indicates the number of patients that were ever hospitalized during their illness, it does not indicate the number of patients currently hospitalized,” the Department of Health notes in its daily COVID-19 briefing.
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Monday that Tennessee had exactly 5,610 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and that 109 state residents had died after contracting the virus.
But Lee also said exactly 1,671 Tennesseans had recovered from the illness.
At a press conference Monday, Lee said there were reasons for optimism — but he still preached caution.
“It is encouraging as Tennessee has now had more than 10 days of single digit percentage case growth,” Lee said.
“Our aggressive testing of more than 76,195 tests has uncovered an average positivity rate between 6 percent to 8 percent consistently. Our hospitalization rate continues to be stable with 579 hospitalizations to date.”
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday he will extend the state’s stay-at-home order through April 30, but he also said government and private-sector officials are working to reopen the state’s economy in May.
Lee said this at a televised press conference, adding “we are not out of the woods yet, and it could be some time [before we are].”
“Until a vaccine or a therapy is widely available to Tennesseans, this virus will be a present reality to us to manage and consider whenever we are making decisions,” Lee said.
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As of Sunday night, more than 43,000 Tennessee residents tested negative for COVID-19, according to the Tennessee Department of Health’s website.
These numbers run in stark contrast to media accounts that focus only on how many people tested positive for the coronavirus.
Lab work for more than 7,500 people in Davidson County who got tested came back negative. More than 1,200 people tested negative in Hamilton County, while nearly 2,200 Knox County residents tested negative. Meanwhile, nearly 6,000 people tested negative for the coronavirus in Shelby County, according to the TDH’s website.
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East Tennessee and Northern Middle Tennessee have two things in common at the moment.
Residents in both regions of Tennessee have filed more unemployment claims than anywhere else in the state because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Also, both areas have a large hospitality industry.
And if tourists may not travel to those areas then, of course, Tennessee’s hospitality industry cannot thrive.
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Residents in seven of Tennessee’s 95 counties have apparently managed to steer clear of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, at least as of Saturday.
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The Tennessee Department of Health is now releasing the names and locations of nursing homes with positive cases of COVID-19.
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A model by Vanderbilt University Medical Center says social distancing has brought Tennessee close to — but not close enough to — the point at which COVID-19 is being contained.
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Medical personnel in Tennessee had 110 confirmed COVID-19 cases in their respective intensive care units on Tuesday of this week, but by Wednesday those numbers dropped to 79.
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Live from Nashville, Tennessee Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Tennessee state Representative John DeBerry (D-Memphis) joined host Michael Patrick Leahy on the newsmakers line.
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The Tennessee State Board of Education made substantial changes to graduation requirements and grading protocols during a special meeting Thursday.
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The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported on Thursday that over 112,000 Tennesseans filed unemployment claims this past week.
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This is a transcript of the interview Nashville’s Morning News with Brian Wilson – 99.7 WTN did with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcasting live from Music Row on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined on the newsmakers line by all-star panelist and Thales Academy in Franklin’s Principal Rachael Bradley.
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Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chair Mike Stewart (D-Nashville) called on Gov. Bill Lee to create a “statewide system to trace the steps of those testing positive for COVID-19.”
“I call on Gov. Lee to use state resources to create a statewide contact tracing system including testing where necessary,” Stewart said in an interview with WKRN.
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Middle Tennessee grocery store employees are restocking most of their shelves with essential items as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, although some shoppers wonder why the toilet paper and hand sanitizer aisles, among others, still remain empty.
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U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07), a physician, expressed concern in a recent interview about a potential shortage of sedatives for COVID-19 patients on ventilators.
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Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service officials will distribute COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments in the next few weeks, but Tennessee officials warned state residents Wednesday to use caution as they get this money.
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Tennessee hospitals admitted far more brand new COVID-19 cases Tuesday than they did Monday, according to updated numbers on The COVID Tracking Project’s website.
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Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.– host Leahy was joined on the newsmakers line by new all-star panelist and Thales Academy of Franklin Principal Rachael Bradley.
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Mayo Clinic announced last week that it is exploring the possibility of 3D printing face masks and other personal protective equipment items to employ in the national fight against COVID-19.
The famous clinic said its 3D Anatomic Modeling Laboratories across the country as well as its Division of Engineering are working together to “reverse-engineer, 3D-print and machine solutions for patient care.”
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A legal motion filed Friday in Davidson County asks the courts to halt the implementation of the Tennessee Education Savings Account (ESA) Program.
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During the third hour of Monday’s, Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, Metro Councilman at Large Steve Glover expressed his disagreement with the significant property tax increase proposed by Mayor Cooper last week. He stated that he didn’t believe that this was a solution to the problem and vowed to stand up to his promise of protecting the people of Davidson County’s wallets.
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U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) announced that, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the already publicly-funded Memphis Area Transit Authority will receive more nearly $36 million in taxpayer money.
This, according to a press release Cohen released late last week.
MATA is Memphis’ public transportation provider.
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A popular coronavirus model has lowered its total projected deaths for Tennessee by more than 2,000 since Gov. Bill Lee announced a statewide shelter-in-place order.
As of April 2, the University of Washington Institute for Health and Metrics Evaluation (IHME) predicted that Tennessee would have 3,259 deaths over the next four months. The IHME model estimated that the virus would reach its peak in the state on April 20 and would result in 159 fatalities in a single day.
The model now predicts that Tennessee will experience 584 COVID-19 deaths over the next four months – a drop of 2,675 projected deaths since last week. On Sunday, the model was predicting 1,000-plus deaths in Tennessee.
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed several election-related bills into law last week, which were passed by the General Assembly before it took a two-month recess caused by the coronavirus.
The most controversial bill signed by Lee scales back restrictions on community voter registration efforts that were put in place in 2019 by the Republican-controlled Legislature. The new bill removes “misdemeanor penalties for not completing certain administrative requirements” and eliminates fines for submitting an abundance of incomplete voter registration forms.
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Tennessee hospitals admitted far fewer new COVID-19 patients on Friday than they did on Thursday of this past week, according to The COVID Tracking Project’s website.
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Bill Hagerty, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Tennessee, called China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic “the crime of the century” in a Friday interview.
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Davidson County retook its status as having the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to new numbers that officials with the Tennessee Department of Health released on their website Friday.
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Several companies in North Carolina are now 3D-printing protective face masks to provide locals with relief from the national shortage of N95 respirators.
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Thales Academy, a college preparatory network of Pre-K-12 independent schools, announced Friday that it is offering a significant tuition reduction for its new campus in Franklin, Tennessee.
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Unemployment claims in Tennessee and nationwide continue to skyrocket because of the Chinese COVID-19 shutdown of businesses.
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The number of Tennesseans who filed unemployment claims has doubled in just one week, according to numbers the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) revealed Thursday.
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Gov. Bill Lee announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order requiring Tennesseans to stay home unless they are engaging in essential activities.
Lee issued an executive order Monday that urged, but didn’t require, residents to stay at home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Under his new order, staying at home isn’t “an option – it’s a requirement for the swift defeat of COVID-19,” said Lee.
The governor said data from the Tennessee Department of Transportation indicated that travel started trending upwards again on March 30 after traffic patterns showed a steep drop-off in vehicle movement between March 13 and 29.
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Broadcasting live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined on the phone by all-star panelist Crom Carmichael.
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A new model produced by the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) predicts that 159 people will die in a single day at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in Tennessee.
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Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, officials with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Securities Division are alerting investors to stay on guard against an anticipated surge of fraudulent investment schemes.
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Tennessee’s rural hospitals are reportedly suffering, not because of the COVID-19 outbreak, but because of the state’s current ban on elective procedures.
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The Beacon Center of Tennessee released a set of 20 policy solutions focused on what policies the state should and shouldn’t enact moving forward when it deals with COVID-19.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced during his virtual State of the Metro address Tuesday that he plans to “sharply increase” the city’s property tax rate.
Cooper said the Nashville Finance Department predicts that revenue from sales taxes and other activities will be down between $200 and $300 million because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Because of the unusual circumstances, Cooper didn’t have a budget proposal to discuss but said the budget ordinance he plans to present to the Metro Council in April will “sharply” increase the city’s property tax rate. Cooper said the final rate will still be lower than other cities throughout Tennessee.
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More than 100 residents and staff of a nursing home in Sumner County, Tennessee have tested positive for the coronavirus, Gov. Bill Lee’s office said Sunday.
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The Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) sent a letter to every mayor in the state Friday asking them to request authority from Gov. Bill Lee to issue shelter-in-place orders for their communities.
Lee has thus far declined to issue a statewide shelter-in-place order, which prompted more than 2,000 health care workers to sign a petition asking him to change course, The Tennessee Star reported. As of Sunday, 26 states had issued stay-at-home orders, including the neighboring states of North Carolina and Kentucky.
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Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear urged Kentuckians living on the border of Tennessee to not go to the Volunteer State for anything other than work, helping a loved one or maybe the grocery shopping.
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More Tennesseans died from suicide than the coronavirus last week, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs revealed in a weekly update.
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Your pending vehicle emissions test can wait.
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