By Joshua Huff, sports editor
MONTGOMERY — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey will hold a press conference on Tuesday to announce her plans on when and how the state will reopen the economy, Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville said on Monday.
Garrett announced the update following Ivey’s call with lawmakers on Monday morning. Garrett did not add any further details.
On a call w/ members of the Alabama Legislature this morning, Gov. Ivey said she would make an announcement tomorrow (4/28) on her plans to begin reopening the state’s economy. She previously stated she would make decision about phased reopening of businesses on or before 4/28.
— Rep. Danny Garrett (@DannyGarrett44) April 27, 2020
Alabama’s statewide stay-at-home order is set to end on April 30. Ivey said on April 17 that the reopening of the state’s economy must be a gradual and cautious process, to avoid a resurgence of coronavirus cases. This coincides with the growing political pressure to follow the aggressive plans of other Southern states — including Georgia, which began reopening businesses Friday.
During a Facebook Live event this past Thursday with Sen. Doug Jones, former Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said more testing is needed to assess the spread. The former surgeon general and south Alabama native likened the epidemic to a hurricane and trying to determine if a lull is the end of the storm.
“This to me is a like a hurricane. … We don’t know if the storm has passed by or if we are just going through the eye. The only way we are going to know that is through more testing,” Benjamin said. “We have tested less than 1% of our state so we have no idea what we are dealing with.”
The governor’s statewide stay-at-home order went into effect on April 4 as a result of the continued rise in coronavirus cases and deaths. At that time, there were 30 deaths with the number of positive cases over 1,000. There are now more than 200 deaths and more than 6,000 positive cases.
Ivey’s stay-at-home order proceeded her closure of non-essential businesses on March 28, which also banned work-related gatherings of 10 people or more.
