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Gov. Lee: Parts of TN with low virus counts might be places that see reopening first

The governor said planning has just started on ways to reopen the state's economy and to end the current stay-at-home status.

As the state looks for ways to restart the economy in May, geographic areas with low rates of COVID-19 could be spots to focus on, Gov. Bill Lee said Thursday.

"We haven’t made any decisions about how it is that we will stage this reopening specifically, but certainly geographic locations will be weighed as we develop that plan," he said.

Lee said a task force that's been created to help launch a phased reopening of the state is just now starting to work. It'll evaluate a lot of factors that will play into how Tennessee may give the all-clear for various businesses to reopen, he said.

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Also, Lee announced Thursday that around $2.3 billion in federal money from the CARES Act will be coming to the state on Friday. The governor said he's created a watchdog group that includes legislative leaders and constitutional officers to oversee how the money is spent.

The Stimulus Financial Accountability Group is made up of ten members, including Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton and State Comptroller Justin Wilson. The group will steward the funds, following guidance from the federal government on how they should be spent.

Lee said he wants to be sure the money, what he called a "critical funding opportunity" for Tennessee, is well spent to help those most affected by the crisis.

Lee said Thursday afternoon he was part of a conference call with the White House including President Trump and other governors from across the state.

Trump outlined his plan for opening up the U.S. economy, Lee said.

"At first sight, I think the president and his team are headed in a very good direction," he said.

Trump talked about a strategic reopening of the county in "low-risk areas," Lee said.

Health officials in Tennessee also said that today was the smallest day-over-day increase they had ever seen and that they are confident they're flattening the curve and slowing the spread of coronavirus in the state.

Health officials also said that they saw around two and three times the number of people they usually see getting tested for coronavirus. They have worked to expand testing across the state, creating pop-up sites and broadening the symptoms a person can get tested for.

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