In any disaster, government has a critical role to play in response and recovery. But government can only do so much, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Friday.
"People look to their government for leadership, but it isn't the answer to all the problems we have. And it was never intended to be," he told the Free Press editorial page while on his way from Knoxville to Chattanooga last week.
Before his executive order Thursday, Lee had been heavily criticized in some corners for not requiring Tennesseans to stay home outside the use of essential businesses during the COVID-19 virus outbreak. However, his previous directives had asked state residents to do just that.
"Government has a very important role to play, but we have to take personal responsibility," he said. "That's how we're going to solve this."
Yet there really isn't anything the government can do to compel people to take personal responsibility. The state can put orders in place, as he did, for many businesses to close and to shut down large gatherings, "but the government can do nothing to make people do that. You can make examples out of people, but this is not a police state, and it's never going to be."
Nevertheless, Lee believes Tennesseans will take the necessary steps to protect themselves, their families and their neighbors to minimize personal contact and stop the spread of coronavirus.
Criticism comes with the territory, and he said he has tried not to take that criticism personally. COVID-19 is an unknown virus, and he said "no one really knows" how long it will last and "what the surge is going to look like."
"I know why people feel the way they do, why they disagree" he said. "There is a tremendous amount of anxiety. The fear is really great."
Among the Volunteer State governor's critics was Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who warned residents that if they traveled to Tennessee, they were taking their lives into their hands because of the virus. Even as Beshear made his remarks, though, the Bluegrass State lagged far behind Tennessee in testing for the virus.
Tennessee has tested three times more people per capita than Kentucky, and testing more people is a sure way for the state to have more confirmed cases.
"To me," the Republican said, "that particular measure, that particular metric - we know what works."
Lee said he has probably talked to 40 governors in the last month.
"We share best practices and try to respect the individuality and uniqueness of each state," he said.
The first-term Tennessee governor said his current focus is on the capacity of the state's health care system and that was why he was in Chattanooga Friday. While here, he met with officials about the potential use of the Chattanooga Convention Center for a temporary hospital to house COVID-19 patients who need non-acute medical care.
The state will know in three or four weeks with the surge of patients expected how the current mandates helped.
"We have strong social distancing policies in place," he said, "and we know social distancing really does work." He said there currently are no other measures planned to keep residents apart but added "nothing is off the table."
Lee said he doesn't envision any state enforcement of the requirements he put in place last week but said he had sent a letter to all local law enforcement agencies.
Those in law enforcement at local levels "know their people," he said, "and can encourage, educate and give guidance on how to get in compliance. I think that's going to happen."
Lee said with the nation shuttered in many ways, Tennessee is in about as strong a financial position as a state can be. His predecessor, Gov. Bill Haslam, put big chunks of unanticipated tax revenue in the state's rainy day fund, and Lee has added more to bring it to $1.4 billion. He said Tennessee also has strong reserves in its TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) funds, in its unemployment insurance funds and has virtually no debt.
"We're looking at the possibility for a year with negative economic growth, and the chance for steep economic declines is great. We're fortunate to enter this season in the position we are fiscally," he said.
Tennesseans have made it through tough patches before with wars and illnesses and economic declines. Lee said his mother recalled being a young girl during World War II and how everyone saved scraps of metal for the war effort and "came together."
He said his administration has tried to adopt both a war-footing-like tactical approach to COVID-19 through the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and a home-front strategy "in which we need to have people [here] doing their part."
Although the enemy is not Germany and Japan but a virus, "the countrywide national belief that we needed to sacrifice to win the war" - his interpretation of his mother's words - is no less needed today.