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Governor Lee grants county mayors the authority to require masks

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Bill Lee

Note: This story was updated at 9:05 p.m.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Friday granted county mayors in most of Tennessee to require or recommend face masks.

The governor’s order, Executive Order 54, is meant to allow county mayors to respond to significant increases in COVID-19 cases.

Tennessee’s densely populated areas, including the Memphis and Nashville areas, continue to have many of the state’s COVID-19 cases.

But local governments want more flexibility to respond to rising cases, and that includes “setting stronger expectations around masks,” Lee said in a press release Friday evening.

“This targeted approach ensures we protect both lives and livelihoods and safely keep our economy open in Tennessee,” the governor said. “We encourage every Tennessean across the state to use a face covering or mask, make sure to socially distance, and wash hands frequently.”

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Updated: State reports new daily high in COVID cases

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This COVID-19 dashboard by the Tennessee Department of Health is through Saturday, June 27, 2020.

Note: This story was last updated at 2:30 p.m. June 28.

Tennessee reported about 1,400 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a new daily high, and the state passed 40,000 total cases on Saturday.

There were 1,410 new cases reported Friday. Of those, 1,396 were new confirmed cases, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. Fourteen were new probable cases.

The previous high was 1,188 new cases a week earlier, on June 19.

Seven of the state’s top 10 highest new daily case counts have been in the past two weeks. Five of them have been in the past five days.

The number of cases increased by 728 on Saturday, pushing the total to 40,172. Of those cases, 39,848 were confirmed, and 324 were probable.

The number of cases in Anderson County rose by one to 90 on Saturday. The day before, on Friday, the case count went up by eight, the highest increase in the county. Previously, the largest daily increase had been five.

While the hospitalization rate has fallen across the state, the number of current hospitalizations has increased during the past few weeks from 391 on Friday, June 12, to 484 on Thursday, June 25.

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COVID-19 cases pass 20,000 in Tennessee

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Graph by Ken Mayes (used with permission)

The number of COVID-19 cases in Tennessee passed 20,000 on Sunday.

The Tennessee Department of Health reported 20,145 confirmed cases on Sunday, with 336 deaths and 12,837 recoveries since the first case was reported in the state in early March.

It was a 1.8 percent daily increase in the number of new cases. During the past two weeks, the daily percentage increase has ranged from 0.6 percent to 3.7 percent.

The number of new cases reported in Tennessee each day has ranged between and 100 and 623. The number of new cases reported Sunday was 356.

The number of deaths reported per day has ranged between two fatalities and 14 the past two weeks. Seven deaths were reported on Sunday.

The doubling time in the number of cases—the amount of time it took to go from 10,000 cases to 20,000 cases—was 26 days. For deaths, it was about 32 days (166 deaths on April 22 and 336 on Sunday). That’s a longer doubling time than reported earlier in the pandemic in Tennessee.

The seven-day average of the percentage increase in new cases in Tennessee had dropped from 2.41 percent on May 12 to 1.79 percent on May 20, but it climbed back up to 2.11 percent on Sunday.

It’s not clear what impact, if any, the expiration of the “stay at home” order in April and the re-opening of businesses last month and this month have had on the increase in the number of cases.

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Restaurants, retailers can increase capacity; live music permitted; large attractions can re-open Friday

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Restaurants and retail stores in most of Tennessee’s counties can increase their capacity starting Friday if they follow certain guidelines, and large attractions such as amusement and water parks, auditoriums and theaters, and zoos and large museums can re-open under certain conditions on Friday.

Restaurants and retailers had been limited to 50 percent capacity since re-opening the week of April 27. There is no certain capacity limit for restaurants, as a percentage, under the updated guidelines released by the Tennessee Economic Recovery Group on Wednesday. Instead, the focus is on making sure tables are properly spaced.

The restaurants and retailers had been closed for about a month as the state tried to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory disease that can be deadly.

Under the new guidelines, restaurants and retail stores can increase their capacity starting Friday as long as they continue to follow social distancing protocols. For restaurants, those protocols include continuing to space tables six feet apart—or installing physical barriers where adequate separation isn’t possible. Bars are to remain closed unless they are used for seated, in-restaurant dining where there is six feet of separation between customer groups. Live music is permitted with certain precautions, including maintaining at least 15 feet of separation between performers and an audience in order to reduce potential exposures.

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Barber shops, hair salons, nail spas, massage businesses can open Wednesday

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Barber shops, hair salons, nail spas, massage therapy services, and similar businesses can re-open in 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties on Wednesday, May 6.

The potential re-openings in the 89 counties, which include Anderson and Roane, was announced by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee this week. It’s part of the phased re-opening of the economy. Much of Tennessee has been shut down for about a month or more as the state tries to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

There are certain guidelines that businesses are expected to follow as they re-open. The guidelines include limiting the number of customers in a business to 50 percent of its capacity, trying to keep people at least six feet apart as much as possible, wearing cloth face coverings, and requiring appointments for services.

The businesses allowed to re-open on Wednesday are called “close contact” businesses. Their re-opening follows the re-opening of restaurants on Monday, April 27; the re-opening of retail stores on Wednesday, April 29; and the re-opening of gymnasiums and exercise facilities on Friday, May 1.

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Most gyms can re-open Friday

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Gymnasiums and exercise facilities in 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties will be able to re-open on Friday, May 1.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced the possible re-openings on Tuesday.

The six counties that are excluded from the governor’s announcement are those with locally run health departments: Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Madison, Shelby, and Sullivan.

The Tennessee Economic Recovery Group has announced guidelines for how gyms and exercise facilities can re-open safely as the state continues to try to control the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

“Exercise is incredibly important for the physical and mental health of our population, and we want Tennesseans to have access to safe environments where they can exercise as appropriate,” Lee said in a press release. “These guidelines outline best practices in keeping with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and health experts for gyms to reopen in a way that will keep their employees and customers safe.”

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Restaurants, retailers can re-open in AC, Oak Ridge

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Restaurants were allowed to re-open under certain guidelines in 89 of the state’s 95 counties on Monday, and retail stores can re-open under similar guidelines on Wednesday.

The guidelines include operating at 50 percent capacity and maintaining social distance (generally keeping people at least six feet apart). The state recommends no live music, and restaurant bars should be kept closed. The state also recommends that employees in both industries wear cloth face coverings and that business owners follow federal guidelines for hygiene and workplace sanitation standards for COVID-19.

The 85 counties where restaurants and retail stores can re-open include Anderson and Roane counties.

Many businesses have been closed or operating under changed conditions as Tennessee, like other states and countries, tried to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

“Tennesseans pulled together to flatten the curve, and it is time for people to begin to get back to work and back to their businesses,” Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said. “We are pursuing a careful, measured approach to reopening our economy that does not depend on heavy-handed mandates but instead provides practical tools for businesses of all sizes.”

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Governor: 15 percent of state’s workforce files unemployment claims

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On Friday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said 15 percent of Tennessee’s workforce had filed unemployment claims as of last week.

More than 400,000 people are without a job, Lee said during a press conference announcing new guidelines for restaurants and retailers that could open in most of the state’s counties this week.

Lee said $870 million in revenue was lost in March alone across some of Tennessee’s largest industries such as hospitality.

With employers and employees struggling, there could a $5 billion decrease in the state’s gross domestic product for 2020, the governor said.

The service industry has been hit especially hard, he said.

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COVID-19 cases rise by more than 2,000 as testing increases

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Graph by Ken Mayes (used with permission)

Note: This story was last updated at 5:45 p.m.

The number of COVID-19 cases increased by more than 2,000 in Tennessee last week as testing increased by more than 40,000.

The total number of cases passed 7,000, then 8,000, then 9,000 last week. The case count increased by 30 percent in one week. The Tennessee Department of Health reported 9,189 cases on Saturday, up from 7,070 on April 19.

But testing was up even more, a roughly 45 percent increase. The number of tests rose from 97,098 on Sunday, April 19, to 141,406 on Saturday, April 25.

The daily growth rate in the number of new cases had dropped to a low of 2.2 percent on Tuesday, April 21, but it has since increased to more than 5 percent. The number of new cases reported each day had been down to 156, but it’s now over 400.

The increase in the number of tests included more than 11,000 tests reported by the state of Tennessee at free drive-through sites last weekend. It was the largest number of tests in the state over a two-day period, Tennessee Governor Bill said Monday. The testing has been expanded to include patients without traditional COVID-19 symptoms.

Expanding testing capacity is an important step to re-open the state’s economy, Lee said. The governor has announced that he will not extend a stay-at-home order past April 30, and restaurants are able to reopen Monday at 50 percent occupancy and retailers are able to reopen Wednesday at 50 percent occupancy.

The increase in the number of cases in Tennessee has included inmates at a state prison, the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville. The Tennessee Department of Correction reported that 576 inmates tested positive for COVID-19 after a large testing event last weekend, although most didn’t show symptoms, and more than 2,000 people have been tested, according to the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.

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Free drive-through COVID-19 testing in Oak Ridge on Sunday

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There will be free drive-through COVID-19 testing in Oak Ridge on Sunday.

The testing is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 26, at the Oak Ridge campus of Roane State Community College. Participants can remain in their vehicles throughout the process.

The Anderson County Health Department and the Tennessee Department of Health are organizing the testing event, a press release said. Nurses and/or National Guard medics will collect nasal swabs from those who want to be tested. Test results may be available within 72 hours after the samples arrive at the lab, depending on lab volume.

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Gov. Lee says he will not extend stay-at-home order past April 30

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Bill Lee

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Monday said he will not extend the state’s stay-at-home order past April 30, and most businesses in 89 of Tennessee’s 95 counties will be 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,” Lee said. “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 governor said his administration will work with Shelby, Madison, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, and Sullivan counties and their health departments as they plan their own strategies for re-opening.

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Free drive-through COVID-19 testing available Sunday

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Free drive-through testing for COVID-19 will be available at Roane State Community College’s main campus in Roane County on Sunday, April 19.

The testing is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Patients can remain in their vehicles throughout the process, a press release said.

The Roane County Health Department and the Tennessee Department of Health are organizing the testing event. Nurses and/or National Guard medics will collect nasal swabs from those who want to be tested, the press release said. Test results may be available within 72 hours after the samples arrive at the lab, depending on lab volume, the release said.

Anyone with health concerns, or who has concerns about the health of a family member, is invited to receive testing for COVID-19 at the event on April 19, the press release said. Participants do not need to provide a doctor’s note or prescription to access testing.

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