COLUMBIA, Tenn. (WTVF) — Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles penned a letter to Gov. Bill Lee requesting that his county be allowed to end all remaining restrictions in place due to COVID-19.
"Simply put, we believe that continued social distancing mandates are serving as a damper on our economic recovery, slowing down what should by all measures be a robust return to normal," the letter read.
Mayor Ogles said the restrictions are doing more harm than good in his community.
According to the Tennessee Department of Health's latest data, Maury County has had a total of 105 confirmed cases, with 67 people considered recovered as of Wednesday. The department released its most updated information after Mayor Ogles sent his letter, which states the county has had 102 cases.
There have not been any COVID-19-related deaths reported in Maury County.
The mayor said due to the community's data on the virus, Maury County is in a "new stage of the pandemic."
"This one-size-fits-all approach that might have been necessary in the early stages should give-way to local, if not individual control," Mayor Ogles said.
In the letter, he criticized Metro Nashville Mayor Cooper for "encouraging a large-scale protest" in Nashville over the weekend.
The day before the rally, Mayor Cooper issued a statement urging the community to attend the "I Will Breathe" rally on Saturday afternoon, saying, "This is an especially critical time for all of us, as Metro’s leaders, to show up and listen to Black voices speaking out from across Davidson County."
"So, if a protest of thousands of persons is permitted in an area considered a Tennessee hot-spot for COVID-19, why cannot Maury County, with a tiny fraction of the numbers seen in Davidson County, be released to govern itself?" Mayor Ogles letter said.
As of Wednesday, Metro Nashville Health officials confirmed a total of 5,750 cases and 65 deaths related to the virus.
