Tennessee Restaurants Reopen As State Sees Biggest 1-Day Jump In COVID-19 Cases

Didn’t see this coming..oh wait. Yes we did. Lets just hope it results in full recovery for those that tried to do all the right things.

I have a simple military analogy. If we can't test and ID infected people, it's like not knowing where the Taliban is. You don't their location and when will they strike.

Everyone has strong opinions on this issue, including me. This is my state, where my family lives... I've got "skin in the game" so to speak; and here's what I'm seeing "on the ground". We've seen more than 400,000 laid off or furloughed due to COVID-19 since late March. Maximum unemployment benefit is something like $295/week. Average rent in the metro areas can top $1,400, and run around $800-1000 in the more rural areas. Add in car payments, credit cards, childcare, etc... etc., and there's no getting around the fact that being unemployed for, let's say 2-3 months, isn't going to be "universally" resolved by a $1,200-$2,500 check and somewhere around $1,200/month in benefits. Those are real problems many Americans are facing now, in every state. Those of us fortunate enough to continue to receive pay are never the less witnessing our future financials go down the toilet... maybe irreversibly. I'm a small part of a group that's been trying to revitalize "downtown" for years... all of which may be undone by this crisis in a few months. We're also all facing the fact that with large portions of our economy being centered on tourism and the service industry... some of our hardest hit citizens, economically, are those on the lower-end of the earning scale. It's a nightmarish problem, and I don't envy Bill Lee, or any other governor, their role in all this. Where I live, in Roane County, we've had less than ten active cases, and all have since been reported as "recovered". Most of the work force around here serve in "essential business" sectors... so aside from managers, administrative personnel, and other similar roles... most people appear to have been working straight through this. Most people want to "do the right thing", and have been willing to comply with reasonable restrictions. My church is predominantly comprised of senior citizens... we've not met in congregation since this began. My parents and in laws live an hour away... we've not seen them since late February. Our schools are closed from the remainder of the academic year (about another four weeks). Testing in earnest only appears to have began here about two weeks ago... so it makes sense that we're seeing a "jump" in cases (as I understand it, the results are not "instant"). Hospitals do not appear to be full, no one I know personally has shown symptoms (at least none that fit the standard roll call). Leaders from those in Nashville, right down to local public servants are struggling to balance safety against the very real, very frightening possibility of having hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans without the means to stay in their homes, pay their bills, or buy necessities. Add in the fact that we just emerged from some of the worst spring severe weather in over a decade out west, and Gatlinburg was just beginning to recover from the fires in the east... and the timing of this monster couldn't be worse. From what I can see, the choice really isn't as simple as just "sheltering in place" for 90+ days. We can politicize everything: I just heard through the "grapevine" than an old family friend was just arrested for opening up before they were supposed to (as of yet, unconfirmed). However, every state is having to make tough choices... I hope ours is making the "least worst" one. In any event, I suppose we'll know something more or less within a month. I figure we should take every precaution we can reasonably take to preserve life... but not to the extent that there may not be much of a civilization for those lives to live in after.