Mayor Shane McFarland will hold another Live televised briefing Wednesday, April 8, at 6 p.m. to be carried live on Facebook and CityTV.

The CityTV Live televised briefing can be viewed on Comcast Xfinity channel 3 & 1094, AT&T Uverse channel 99, Roku, Apple TV via Cablecast Screenweave, www.youtube.com/cityofmurfreesboro, and city website at www.murfreesborotn.gov/citytv. To watch the briefing live on Facebook, go to https://www.facebook.com/cityofmurfreesborotn. 

"I want to continue to update the citizens of Murfreesboro on both the health and economic impact of the coronavirus to provide information on how to protect you and your loved ones as well as the livelihood of workers and small businesses in our community," stated Mayor Shane McFarland. "The regular Live televised briefing on Facebook Live is a way for me to provide essential information and allow citizens to ask pertinent questions related to this crisis."

Rutherford County law enforcement prepared a #SaferatHome message. The video can be viewed on Facebook at https://youtu.be/415wipTnJxo. 

Many citizens have questions about whether a service or business can continue to operate under Governor Lee’s Executive Orders. Executive Order 22 stipulates, "Businesses or organizations that do not perform Essential Services shall not be open for access or use by the public or its members." For information on essential services, citizens are encouraged to visit Governor’s Lee’s Covid-19 website for the latest updates and information https://www.tn.gov/governor/covid-19/essential-services.html. A graphic is also attached. The essential services webpage provides guidance for citizens to clarify the difference between essential and non-essential services and businesses.

On April 2, Lee issued Executive Order No. 23, amending and strengthening Executive Order 22, by requiring all Tennesseans to "stay at home," unless they are carrying out "essential activities" defined in Executive Order 22. The Executive Orders allow for the continuation of essential businesses. Non-essential businesses including establishments open for eating or drinking onsite, are ordered to remain closed until April 14 at 11:59 p.m.

On April 3, McFarland renewed the Declaration of ‘State of Emergency,’ extending the City’s previous declaration and adopting Governor Bill Lee’s "Stay at Home" Executive Order No. 23 that was issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The renewed Declaration is effective immediately and remains in effect until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 10.

Helpful links are provided below to assist workers and businesses impacted by Covid-19:

• Workers displaced by the impact of the pandemic, can apply for unemployment benefits at www.Jobs4TN.gov.

• Small businesses can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program to secure a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll through the U.S. Department of Treasury at https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/top-priorities/cares-act/assistance-for-small-businesses.

• The Small Business Administration (SBA) will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. The Program authorized $350 billion in fully forgivable loans to help small businesses maintain payrolls during the coronavirus pandemic. Small business should work with local financial institutions to participate in the program which went live on April 2. More information on the loans is available at https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program-ppp. 

Citizens can view the Mayor’s Declarations and follow the latest City Coronavirus Information at the City of Murfreesboro website: https://www.murfreesborotn.gov/1690/Coronavirus-Information.

Residents are also encouraged to watch CityTV for updates, including closings and postponements as well as CDC videos. For video messages, including COVID-19 Updates and Briefings from Mayor McFarland, visit http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/1702/City-Video-Messages.

For detailed information from Governor Bill Lee including daily briefings, visit the Office of Governor website at https://www.tn.gov/governor/covid-19.html.

For information from the Tennessee Department of Health, visit

https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov.html.

For the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) COVID-19 webpage and most recent information and guidelines: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.