Governor Bill Lee announced on Thursday that he has signed an "emergency declaration" aimed at allowing the state to receive additional federal funds and relax certain laws to help fight the spread of coronavirus.
He said all Tennesseans should take the threat from the virus seriously.
Governor Lee advised the elderly and those with health problems to avoid crowds. He said non-essential visits to nursing facilities and hospitals should be halted.
He said, "What we do today will impact tomorrow's efforts to fight the spread. That's why things change because we have a fluid health situation in our state."
The executive order includes these provisions:
- Gives state health commissioner power to allow licensed health professionals from other states to practice medicine in Tennessee without having to pursue a state license
- Allows pharmacists to dispense an extra 30-day supply of maintenance prescriptions without prior authorization
- Permits health care workers to provide “localized treatment of patients in temporary residences” without having to be licensed specifically to provide home health services
- Clears way for alternative testing sites without having to get approval from the state Medical Laboratory Board.
- Allows construction of temporary medical facilities without state approval
- Declares that an “abnormal economic disruption exists” and prohibits price gouging for medical or emergency supplies
- Relaxes trucking rules to allow larger deliveries of emergency and medical supplies and to allow truckers to exceed the maximum hours on the road for such deliveries
- Allows the human services commissioner to waive child care licensure rules as necessary to respond to the C0VID-19 emergency
- Gives TennCare the authority to create or modify policies to ensure that recipients receive medically necessary services without disruption
- Directs the state Department of Health and the Department of Commerce and Insurance to work with insurance companies to “identify and remove any burdens to responding to COVID-19” and improve access to screening, testing and treatment
Lt. Governor Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton released this statement:
“The General Assembly is encouraging groups who have planned non-essential events and activities in and around the Cordell Hull Building and Capitol to consider rescheduling or postponing. We will continue with the business for which we have been elected and for which we are constitutionally bound. But we will do so with extreme caution and in the public health’s best interest. We will continue to monitor the spread of the virus and keep in consultation with Governor Lee and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Our website will remain online and meetings will continue to be streamed and televised. The people of Tennessee will still have access to the work they have elected us to do. We will continue to take additional action as needed.”