This is a summary of Gov. Bill Lee’s COVID-19 briefing from Thursday, April 16. He is not currently scheduled to hold a press conference on Friday.
There are 6,262 COVID-19 cases in the state, up from 6,079 the day before. There are 141 deaths and 691 hospitalizations, up from 135 and 663 the day before. A total of 2,786 have recovered.
Lee:
We are encouraged by the progress we are making, no you are making.
Tennesseans have paid quite a price.
Keep washing your hands and stay away from people when you are sick. Pay attention to how you feel; we encourage you to reach out for testing if you don’t feel well or have been around someone with COVID-19.
We announced the 15 drive-through test sites for this weekend.
I just got off a call with President Trump. I was asked to speak about the efforts we are making in Tennessee. It was a call with governors as the president gave his plan to reopen the U.S. economy. Our team will evaluate it. I think the president is heading in a good direction. It involves the staged reopening of low risk areas around the country. We have looked at this.
The more we stick to social distancing, the better.
We are ready for Tennesseans to get back to work. As testing and hospital capacity improve, we can open up more parts of the state. We will give guidance.
Mark Ezell from the Tourism Department is heading up the economic recovery group. We have industry leaders from large businesses and small businesses. We also want to hear from businesses across the state. Go to tn.gov to say how this is affecting your business and your advice.
The federal response has given a funding opportunity. The CARES Act funds will start arriving tomorrow, over $2.3 billion, and more going to Memphis and Nashville. This creates opportunity and responsibility. We’re partnering with Legislature and constitutional officers to steward the funds to make sure they are well spent.
Dr. Lisa Piercey, Department of Health:
3 percent daily increase, the smallest daily increase yet.
691 hospitalizations and 141 deaths.
Everyone who thinks they need a test should get one. Local health departments saw an increase in testing today. We encourage you to call ahead.
Questions:
Lee: There is a limit to the number of tests on hand but that limit is expanding all the time. We are ramping up contact tracing with 150 more workers planned and more after that. This will increase our ability to know how the virus is spreading so when we open the economy…We don’t have a target number to test, just as many as possible.
Q: Any areas you would be opening first.
Lee; We’re looking to the economy group to consider this. Looking at areas with few cases or no significant spread. That data will be enhanced over the next week or two as we expand testing. We haven’t made decisions on how we will stage the reopening.
Q: What is the next phase? The state’s budget. How to scale back the budget? Furloughing state employees?
Lee: The Legislature will return in June and we will…even today there are discussions. We’re starting to understand the projections around revenue declines. That will be a long process through summer and into the end of the year for the next year’s budget.
Q: Will there be transparency with the economic advisory group and how the decide to spend the CARES Act money? Will we be able to watch the meetings?
Lee: The first meeting date has been set. We will have transparency. The meetings will be open. You will get details. There are clear directions from the feds on the amounts of money and broad rules on how to spend it like on education, health care, business relief, direct COVID expenses.
Q: You have refused to list specific numbers of cases and deaths at nursing homes. Other states like Georgia have found no legal barrier at all. Why should families not have access to this?
Lee: We’ve been talking about that.
Piercey: At our core, we are clinicians. Patient privacy is the most important. Transparency to the public is important. There is a balance there. We’ve been talking to our attorneys, HIPAA consultants and data people. We are a HIPAA-covered entity, but not all health departments are. I hope to have additional data points.
Q: You said testing is important and anyone can get it. That’s not been true for state inmates. Are they not entitled to the same concern?
Piercey: They absolutely are entitled to all the same testing and medical care. I am in daily contact with the director of corrections.
Q: Can any of the $2.3 billion be used for small business loans or Paycheck Protection Program? Doctor, social distancing brought the virus transmission number down from 5 to 1. What number are you comfortable with as we reopen?
Lee: The feds just delivered guidelines. We must see how that money will be spent. We will outline how we would spend it and then have feds see if small business funding is allowed. There is a fourth package going through Congress which could expand the PPP.
Piercey: You referred to the average number of people a patient infects. You said 5, which was true in China, but here in Tennessee it was between 2-3. Now, the latest I saw was 1.3 or 1.4. We would like it to be under 1. When lifting restrictions, it will go up, but we want to keep it as low as possible. That’s why people should use good hygiene.
Q: Experts say Northeast Tennessee could be weeks away from the peak.
Lee: You have been prepared. There is good hospital capacity there. The system furloughed 1,300 workers from lack of activity because they are providing capacity. That’s the thing we were working most to do, to flatten the curve so not to strain the health care system. We no longer have to rely on models; we have weeks of data telling us what’s going on with hospital capacity. We can begin to reopen the economy because we can monitor the hospital system capacity.
Q: Is Shelby County Schools going to receive money from CARES for the digital divide?
Lee: CARES has funding in two sources for schools. Every district will get money. All that …we will understand how to spend it and how much. The Legislature will work with us to steward those funds.
A reporter asked for specifics on how much state revenue has been lost.
Lee: It’s fortunate we passed the budget when we did. I applaud the Legislature for decreasing proposed expenditures. It’s early to know the impact on our economy.
Q: Will the legislators be back by June 1, or do teleconferencing?
Lee: It’s hard to know what will happen in June.
The economic task force members:
Lee Administration Representatives:
Mark Ezell, Director
Sammie Arnold, Chief of Staff
House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R – Portland)
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R – Franklin)
Brandon Gibson, Senior Advisor to Governor Lee
Bob Rolfe, Department of Economic and Community Development
Greg Gonzales, Department of Financial Institutions
David Gerregano, Department of Revenue
Dr. Charles Hatcher, Department of Agriculture
Dr. Jeff McCord, Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Hodgen Mainda, Department of Commerce and Insurance
Tony Niknejad, Governor’s Office
Brig. Gen. Scott Brower, COVID-19 Unified Command
Dr. Morgan McDonald, TN Dept. of Health, Deputy Commissioner
Butch Eley, Department of Finance & Administration
Industry Representatives:
Jim Brown, National Federation of Independent Business
Bradley Jackson, TN Chamber of Commerce
Beverly Robertson, President & CEO of the Memphis Chamber of Commerce
Rob Ikard, TN Grocers & Convenience Store Association
Rob Mortensen, TN Hospitality & Tourism Association
Colin Barrett, TN Bankers Association
Fred Robinson, TN Credit Union League
Dave Huneryager, TN Trucking Association
Will Cromer, TN Hospital Association
Mayor Kevin Davis, President of TN County Services Association
Mayor Jill Holland, President of TN Municipal League
Jeff Aiken, TN Farm Bureau
Tari Hughes, Center for Non-Profit Management
Roland Myers, TN Retail Association
Clay Crownover, President & CEO of Associated Builders & Contractors of Tennessee
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