Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s COVID-19 Bulletin #10

Nashville, TN – Today, Wednesday, April 1st, 2020, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee provided an update on Tennessee’s efforts regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) relief.

Governor Lee’s daily press conferences can be viewed live each day this week at 3:00pm CT here. Governor Lee has also established a website specific to Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates which can be found here.

Key Updates

National Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and all Tennesseans are encouraged to be vigilant during this time of seclusion and social distancing and to call the Child Abuse Hotline (1.877.237.0004) if they suspect any incidents of child abuse or neglect. Reports can also be made online at tn.gov/dcs or by using the MyTN app.

The Child Abuse Hotline continues to operate and has never been down during this crisis. The Department of Children’s Services hotline staff continue to follow the same protocols to ensure all reports of child abuse and neglect are screened and investigated. Child Protective Services investigators are continuing to conduct in-person visits as well. For more information go here.

Personal Protective Equipment Procurement

COVID-19 Unified Command Group has made significant gains in Tennessee’s efforts to secure personal protective equipment for health care workers and critical personnel across the state. More than 18,000,000 PPE items totaling over $45 million have been acquired.

Each of Tennessee’s 95 counties has received a shipment of PPE from Unified Command, with the vast majority of supplies continuing to be delivered to rural areas with Unified Command reporting 80-90% of supplies.

Tennessee has also reached a critical threshold with the creation of face shields through 3D printing efforts at higher education institutions – 10,000 face shields have been produced thus far with more on the way.

Surge Planning

Unified Command has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ensure Tennessee has thousands of additional hospital beds available should our health care institutions become overwhelmed by a surge in hospitalizations.

These back up plans are actively being assessed in major cities in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers and hospitals.

The state is also placing an urgent call to health care workers who are currently displaced or furloughed. Unified Command is launching a website for those individuals to sign up and be a part of our surge planning. Health care workers of all levels are encouraged to engage.

Administration Actions

Medicaid 1135 Waiver

TennCare has received approval for a 1135 waiver request to address any potential strain on Tennessee’s health care safety net and care for the uninsured.

With this waiver, Tennessee will gain several flexibilities targeted toward providers and designed to ensure sufficient health care services are available through this pandemic. Many of these flexibilities will be implemented immediately, with others implemented if and when needed.

For more information on TennCare actions related to Coronavirus (COVID-19) go here. For more information on the approval of the 1135 waiver go here.

Current Department of Health Testing Results (as of 2 p.m. 4/1)

For more information on Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Tennessee, please visit the Tennessee Department of Health’s website here.