Three things for April 3
1. Governor Bill Lee issues statewide stay-at-home order for Tennessee
On Thursday, Gov. Bill Lee signed executive order 23, requiring Tennessee residents to stay at home unless going to work for an essential service or completing essential activities. Gov. Lee stated there was a decrease in movement by residents after executive order 22 but added there has been an increase in the last few days.
“The month of April stands to be an extremely tough time for our state as we face the potential for a surge in COVID-19 cases,” said Lee. “Every Tennessean must take this seriously, remain at home and ensure we save lives.”
The stay-at-home order is set to stay in effect until April 14 at 11:59 p.m. According to Gov. Lee, the goal is to decrease movement and decrease those impacted by COVID-19. As of April 2, Tennessee has 2,845 confirmed cases and 32 coronavirus-related deaths.
2. J.K. Rowling launches ‘Harry Potter at Home’
In March, J.K. Rowling announced she was relaxing copyright permissions on “Harry Potter” materials so teachers could post videos reading her books to their students online. She has now taken that a step further by launching Harry Potter at Home.
Harry Potter at Home is a website offering activities for children home from school. These activities include quizzes, games, reading and more. Rowling partnered with the publishers from Bloomsbury and Scholastic to give materials to the Potter website.
Rowling also worked with audio publishers Audible and OverDrive for audio and digital versions of the first book, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” to be offered for free on the website.
“The teachers, parents and carers working to keep children’s lives as normal and happy as possible while we’re all on lockdown deserve a bit of magic,” Rowling said in a statement Wednesday. “I hope these initiatives will give children and even adults a happy distraction during their enforced stay-at-home time.”
3. Arnold Schwarzenegger donates $1 million in medical supplies to combat COVID-19
Last week, former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the Frontline Responders Fund for doctors and nurses on the frontlines of COVID-19 to donate $1 million in masks and other medical supplies.
Schwarzenegger personally delivered 50,000 masks to medical professionals before heading home and urging his followers to do the same.
The equipment was supplied by the logistic firm Flexport which is offering support by delivering 60,000 surgical masks, 34,000 gloves, 2,000 surgical gowns and 50 thermometers in San Francisco.
“I never believed in sitting on the couch and complaining about how bad things are, I always believed we should all do our part to make things better,” said Schwarzenegger in an Instagram post. “This is a simple way to protect our real action heroes on the frontlines in our hospitals, and I’m proud to be part of it.”
