Wes Nakagiri

Livingston County Commissioner, District 3

As Governor Whitmer’s COVID policies continue devasting Michigan small businesses, Tennessee has decided to lift capacity restrictions on restaurants and retail and allow large attractions to reopen on May 22.

The Tennessee State Economic Recovery Group announced Friday it will be lifting the 50% capacity restrictions on restaurants and retail stores effective May 22.

WBIR reports, “The state will also allow large non-contact attractions to open on May 22. These include any business that can practice social distancing with strong measures to protect employees and customers, including racetracks, amusement parks, water parks, theaters, dinner theaters, museums, auditoriums, and more.”

Whitmer’s over-the-top COVID restrictions put Michigan citizens in peril as she continues to crush the livelihoods of citizens across the state. Additionally, her poor decisions are exacerbating an already sizeable state budget shortfall. A May 15th Detroit News headline summed up the dire situation saying, “Michigan predicts $3.2 billion budget shortfall, looks to feds for more aid.”

It is still unclear when Whitmer will release her ironclad grip on the throat of the Michigan economy. She doesn’t appear to be inclined to follow data indicating she could safety re-open.

Analysis of COVID statistics

Confirmed cases of COVID in each Tennessee county are displayed in the table below. The rates per million population range from 151 to a whopping 144,364. This statistic is inflated as three Tennessee counties having correctional institutions are skewing the COVID data. These three counties’ COVID rates are high due to a large number of cases in the correctional institutions and a low population in the surrounding county. Excluding these three counties produces a more typical COVID range of 151 to 7,042.

Using the 7,042 COVID cases per million population as a benchmark would enable all but one region in Michigan to fully open for business. Just as was concluded in the recent comparison with Indiana, only Emergency Preparedness Region 2S would not be able to immediately open for business. Emergency Preparedness Region 2S consists of Wayne County, Washtenaw County, and Monroe Counties.

Of course, Governor Whitmer could open all regions if she chose. She could do this safely by enacting greater safety measures in Region 2S.

Sources

population.: https://www.tennessee-demographics.com/counties_by_population

COVID cases: https://www.tn.gov/content/tn/health/cedep/ncov/data.html

county square miles: https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/united-states/quick-facts/tennessee/land-area

 

Counties with correctional institutions

https://wdef.com/2020/05/12/trousdale-bledsoe-counties-highest-covid-19-rates-country/

https://www.kfvs12.com/2020/05/14/covid-cases-lake-county-tenn-linked-northwest-correctional-complex/

https://www.dailyyonder.com/meatpacking-and-prisons-drive-the-rural-infection-rate/2020/04/30/

date county confirmed popl popl rank sqmi density case/mm separate
16-May Anderson 36 75,775 18 337.16 225 475  
16-May Bedford 248 47,558 33 473.64 100 5,215  
16-May Benton 6 16,112 76 394.14 41 372  
16-May Blount 75 128,443 11 558.71 230 584  
16-May Bradley 81 104,557 13 328.76 318 775  
16-May Campbell 17 39,687 40 480.19 83 428  
16-May Cannon 13 13,976 80 265.64 53 930  
16-May Carroll 24 28,018 52 599.25 47 857  
16-May Carter 19 56,391 25 341.2 165 337  
16-May Cheatham 88 39,929 38 302.44 132 2,204  
16-May Chester 12 17,150 73 285.74 60 700  
16-May Claiborne 7 31,613 48 434.58 73 221  
16-May Clay 6 7,686 90 236.54 32 781  
16-May Cocke 20 35,336 42 434.57 81 566  
16-May Coffee 60 54,531 26 428.96 127 1,100  
16-May Crockett 14 14,499 79 265.54 55 966  
16-May Cumberland 88 58,634 23 681.03 86 1,501  
16-May Davidson 3,795 684,017 2 504.03 1,357 5,548 yes
16-May Decatur 5 11,683 85 333.85 35 428  
16-May DeKalb 28 19,601 65 304.35 64 1,428  
16-May Dickson 90 51,988 30 489.9 106 1,731  
16-May Dyer 44 37,576 41 512.33 73 1,171  
16-May Fayette 88 39,692 39 704.79 56 2,217  
16-May Fentress 6 17,994 69 498.61 36 333  
16-May Franklin 43 41,512 36 554.54 75 1,036  
16-May Gibson 57 49,175 32 602.74 82 1,159  
16-May Giles 9 29,167 50 610.93 48 309  
16-May Grainger 6 23,013 61 280.6 82 261  
16-May Greene 46 68,669 20 622.17 110 670  
16-May Grundy 30 13,331 81 360.53 37 2,250  
16-May Hamblen 24 63,740 21 161.18 395 377  
16-May Hamilton 332 357,546 4 542.43 659 929 yes
16-May Hancock 1 6,585 92 222.34 30 152  
16-May Hardeman 180 25,562 58 667.77 38 7,042  
16-May Hardin 9 25,771 57 577.32 45 349  
16-May Hawkins 32 56,402 24 486.98 116 567  
16-May Haywood 29 17,779 72 533.11 33 1,631  
16-May Henderson 11 27,859 53 520.07 54 395  
16-May Henry 17 32,279 46 562.1 57 527  
16-May Hickman 52 24,678 59 612.5 40 2,107  
16-May Houston 6 8,176 88 200.29 41 734  
16-May Humphreys 12 18,318 68 530.98 34 655  
16-May Jackson 10 11,615 86 308.32 38 861  
16-May Jefferson 26 53,247 27 274.08 194 488  
16-May Johnson 15 17,789 70 298.48 60 843  
16-May Knox 302 456,185 3 508.22 898 662 yes
16-May Lauderdale 43 26,297 55 471.99 56 1,635  
16-May Lawrence 21 42,937 35 617.13 70 489  
16-May Lewis 2 11,956 84 282.09 42 167  
16-May Lincoln 16 33,711 43 570.34 59 475  
16-May Loudon 48 51,610 31 229.22 225 930  
16-May Macon 75 23,487 60 307.14 76 3,193  
16-May Madison 160 97,682 14 557.12 175 1,638 yes
16-May Marion 30 28,417 51 498.16 57 1,056  
16-May Marshall 25 32,269 47 375.46 86 775  
16-May Maury 60 89,776 16 613.14 146 668  
16-May McMinn 123 52,773 29 430.13 123 2,331  
16-May McNairy 12 25,903 56 562.86 46 463  
16-May Meigs 22 11,962 83 195.12 61 1,839  
16-May Monroe 38 45,876 34 635.57 72 828  
16-May Montgomery 203 196,387 7 539.18 364 1,034  
16-May Moore 4 6,322 93 129.22 49 633  
16-May Morgan 12 21,596 64 522.18 41 556  
16-May Obion 17 30,520 49 544.73 56 557  
16-May Overton 14 22,004 62 433.48 51 636  
16-May Perry 13 7,912 89 414.73 19 1,643  
16-May Pickett 2 5,088 95 162.98 31 393  
16-May Polk 12 16,782 74 434.68 39 715  
16-May Putnam 206 76,440 17 401.1 191 2,695  
16-May Rhea 8 32,628 45 315.38 103 245  
16-May Roane 8 52,897 28 360.71 147 151  
16-May Robertson 263 69,344 19 476.29 146 3,793  
16-May Rutherford 814 307,128 5 619.36 496 2,650  
16-May Scott 11 21,954 63 532.3 41 501  
16-May Sequatchie 10 14,730 77 265.86 55 679  
16-May Sevier 66 96,287 15 592.5 163 685  
16-May Shelby 3,595 937,005 1 763.17 1,228 3,837 yes
16-May Smith 24 19,458 66 314.29 62 1,233  
16-May Stewart 7 13,301 82 459.33 29 526  
16-May Sullivan 57 156,734 9 413.36 379 364 yes
16-May Sumner 724 179,473 8 529.45 339 4,034  
16-May Tipton 402 61,446 22 458.37 134 6,542  
16-May Unicoi 3 17,780 71 186.17 96 169  
16-May Union 4 19,293 67 223.55 86 207  
16-May Van Buren 3 5,704 94 273.42 21 526  
16-May Warren 14 40,454 37 432.68 93 346  
16-May Washington 66 127,055 12 326.47 389 519  
16-May Wayne 61 16,649 75 734.1 23 3,664  
16-May Weakley 24 33,626 44 580.36 58 714  
16-May White 17 26,580 54 376.67 71 640  
16-May Williamson 462 218,648 6 582.6 375 2,113  
16-May Wilson 316 132,663 10 570.83 232 2,382  
16-May Out-of-state 343            
16-May Pending 8