Star Staff Reports
Despite news coming down from Nashville Monday, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced Tuesday that his city would not reopen until at least May 5.
Governor Bill Lee announced the order for Tennesseans to remain at home will expire April 30, with the vast majority of businesses in 89 counties allowed to reopen on May 1. The Lee Administration will work with Shelby, Madison, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox and Sullivan counties and their health departments as they plan their own re-open strategies.
Strickland said Tuesday the city’s stay-at-home order will be extended through May 5. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Strickland appointed the five-member team of business and health professionals with the responsibility of developing a plan to safely reopen the local economy.
Certain medical benchmarks need to be considered, like a decrease in positive tests, more testing and more contact tracing, before reopening in Memphis and Shelby County. The task force meets daily and is working on a final report that will be presented to the mayors.
“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 Gov. 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 Economic Recovery Group, composed of 30 leaders from the public and private sector is crafting guidance to assist businesses in a safe reopening. The industry representatives participating in the ERG collectively represent over 140,000 Tennessee businesses that employ over 2.5M Tennesseans. More information about ERG is available at www.tn.gov/governor/news/2020/4/16/gov—lee-establishes-economic-recovery-group-to-reboot-tennessee-economy.html
