Gov. Bill Lee gives updates during weekly COVID-19 briefing

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — “I do want to highlight while we are extending the state of emergency, we are removing all business restrictions in the 89 counties that are controlled in Tennessee by the state health department,” said Tennessee Governor Bill Lee.

Due to COVID-19 there has been a state of emergency for seven months now in Tennessee. Governor Bill Lee announced Tuesday that state of emergency will continue for another 30 days.

Citizens in all counties have been mostly concerned about schools and its students during COVID-19. Gov. Lee says Tennessee is leading the country in terms of schools reopening but the number of COVID-19 cases in schools are still rising.

“As of this week there have been 414 new cases and 170 new staff cases in public schools across the state. both of those cases are taken done from last week, 127 districts continue to operate on a hybrid schedule based on parents choice,” said Tennessee Education Commissioner, Penny Schwinn.

Tennessee is still a fighting COVID-19 cases and when it comes to staying safe during the pandemic, Gov. Lee is still encourage people to wear masks.

“The fundamentals of staying home when sick, taking a test, whenever you can wear a mask and washing your hands,” said Governor Lee.

He says COVID-19 is still a serious problem and he encourages every Tennessean to continue social distancing and doing their part to help stop the spread of the virus.