Three States Gradually Reopen, as Others Plan to Lift Regulations | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This post appears here courtesy of the LifeZette, and written by Polizette Staff.

    Tennessee, Mississippi, and Montana have all made serious reopening moves over the last couple of days. Oklahoma and Georgia took the same actions several days ago. Others states including Ohio and Alaska are following their lead later this week on May 1st. These policies are in general keeping with the recommendations of the president's virus task force. Three governors announced their decisions on Monday.

    Tennessee: "Like the rest of the country, Tennessee has taken an unprecedented economic hit with families and small businesses feeling the most pain," said GOP Governor Bill Lee. "We must stay vigilant as a state, continue to practice social distancing, and engage in best practices at our businesses so that we can stay open."

    Mississippi: "Wall Street and Hollywood will be fine," Republican Governor Tate Reeves said on Facebook. "Mississippi small businesses and workers are not. That's who has been asked to shoulder the country's burden. It's not fair, and it's not right. We have to safely, quickly re-open. That's what we're starting to do."

    Montana: "Montana was early in combating this virus," said Democrat Governor and failed presidential candidate Steve Bullock. "We've taken the right steps at the right time."

    Georgia: Responding to President Trump's noted criticism of his reopening decisions, Georgia GOP Governor Brian Kemp recently tweeted: "I appreciate his bold leadership and insight during these difficult times and the framework provided by the White House to safely move states forward. Our next measured step is driven by data and guided by state public health officials. We will continue with this approach to protect the lives — and livelihoods — of all Georgians." Smart play Mr. Kemp.

    Oklahoma: "I can't speak to what's happening in other states, but in my state, we're seeing the trending going down, our testing going up, our tracing, we put 80 different testing sites up, we've tested over 55,000 folks, our positive tests right now are 6.3 percent, and again 300 hospitalized cases across the state with a capacity for 4,600, we think it's a reasonable time to reopen," GOP Governor Kevin Stitt said on Sunday.

    With more states joining the race to reopen the economy and normal lifestyles should be in close to full swing by the early summer.