Today, Governor Bill Lee provided an update on Tennessee’s efforts regarding COVID-19 relief.
Gov. Lee’s daily press conferences can be viewed live this week Monday through Thursday at 3 p.m. CDT here. Gov. Lee has also established a website specific to COVID-19 updates which can be found here.
Key Updates
School Closure
Gov. Lee has called on schools to remain closed through the end of the school year. Students have lost significant learning time in their classrooms and the administration is committed to continuing to provide resources that keep our students engaged.
Time lost in the classroom also has implications on overall wellbeing, especially for at-risk and vulnerable student populations. Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn will convene a COVID-19 Child Wellbeing Task Force to engage communities and provide support for students.
Administration Actions
Expanded Testing Capacity
Gov. Lee has directed the Unified-Command group to rapidly expand Tennessee’s COVID-19 testing capacity to enable more Tennesseans to have improved access and make informed health decisions.
The expanded testing effort launches this weekend, April 18-19 with the Tennessee National Guard establishing 15 drive-through testing sites across the state. Drive-through testing sites will also be available during the weekends of April 25-26 and May 2-3. A full list of sites is available here, and additional information is available here.
Tennessee Department of Health nurses and Tennessee National Guard medics will perform tests at these drive-through sites and results are projected to be delivered to participants within 72 hours of testing. In addition to drive-through testing sites, Tennesseans can get a test free of charge, five days a week at every rural county health department in the state.
Every Tennessean who isn’t feeling well – even outside of the traditional COVID-19 symptoms of cough, fever or difficulty breathing – should get tested.
Additional resources:
- What to expect after being tested for COVID-19
- What to do if your test results are negative
- What to do after being diagnosed with COVID-19
Current Department of Health Testing Results (as of 2 p.m. 4/15)
| Confirmed Cases | Hospitalizations | Fatalities | Recovered | Total Tests |
| 6,079 | 663 | 135 | 2,196 | 80,896 |
For more information on COVID-19 in Tennessee, please visit the Tennessee Department of Health’s website here.