NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Gov. Bill Lee signed three new executive orders Monday aimed at combatting the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the state of Tennessee.
This, as the Tennessee Department of Health, reported 2,125 new and probable COVID-19 cases on Monday from two days’ worth of data: As of Monday, the total COVID-19 case count for Tennessee is now 42,297; including 592 deaths, 2,599 hospitalizations and 26,962 recovered.
Gov. Lee’s office announced that he had signed Executive Order No. 50 “to extend the State of Emergency related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to August 29, 2020. The order allows for the continued suspension of various laws and regulations and other measures within the orders to facilitate the treatment and containment of COVID-19 through regulatory flexibility, promoting social distancing and avoidance of large gatherings, and protecting vulnerable populations.”
Gov. Lee’s office also saying he had signed Executive Order Nos. 51 and 52, “which extend provisions that allow for electronic government meetings subject to transparency safeguards and remote notarization and witnessing of documents, respectively, to August 29, 2020.”
So what do these new executive orders mean?
According to the executive order information page on the state’s website, Executive Order No. 50 extends previous provisions that:
- Urge Tennesseans to continue limiting activity and staying home where possible, as well as following health guidelines and maintaining social distancing;
- Urge persons to wear a cloth face covering in places where in close proximity to others;
- Urge employers to allow or require remote work/telework if possible;
- Provide that persons with COVID-19 or COVID-19 symptoms are required to stay at home, and that employers may not require or allow employees with COVID-19 to work;
- Limit social and recreational gatherings of 50 or more persons, unless adequate social distancing can be maintained (the 6 counties with locally run county health departments may issue different directives on gatherings)
- This does not apply to places of worship, for which there are guidelines for safe operation of worship services and gatherings, though places of worship are urged to continue virtual or online services where possible;
- This does not apply to weddings, funerals, and related events, but encourages postponement of large-gathering components of such events;
- Limit nursing home and long-term-care facility visitation, while providing a framework for safe, limited visitation set forth in Executive Order No. 49, and continue the closure of senior centers
There are more provisions involving bars, restaurants, health care facilities and procedures are also touched upon in the new executive order; a more complete list of measures extended beyond June 30 “to promote regulatory flexibility, facilitate social distancing and avoidance of large gatherings, and support supply chains and health care providers includes” — can be found on the state’s website.
Executive Order No. 51
Executive Order No. 16, as previously extended by Executive Order No. 34, which allows governing bodies to meet electronically regarding essential business as long as they provide electronic access to the public and meet the safeguards established in that order to ensure openness and transparency, is extended through August 29 to ensure that governmental entities are able to carry out essential business in a safe, transparent way without creating large gatherings in a confined space and endangering persons, particularly those at increased risk of suffering severe illness from COVID-19, while determinations of how best to return to safe, in-person governmental meetings remain ongoing.
Summary of Executive Order No. 52
Executive Order No. 26, as previously extended by Executive Order No. 37, which allows for remote notarization and witnessing of documents, subject to compliance with certain procedures, is extended through August 29 to ensure that persons, and particularly populations especially vulnerable to COVID-19, including older adults and persons with compromised immune systems or serious chronic medical conditions, can continue to engage in commerce and execute legal documents without requiring in-person contact.
