Gov. Bill Lee speaks at a press conference on Tennessee’s coronavirus response in Nashville on March 16, 2020. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)

Gov. Bill Lee in a conference call with community newspapers thanked the publications for providing key information about the state’s coronavirus response to their readerships.

“We are in a war,” Lee said in the call, according to the Buffalo River Review. “And in this battle, heroes stay home.”

Lee said the administration was working to provide personal protective equipment to rural communities and looking for ways increase the number of healthcare workers to prepare for a surge in coronavirus cases.

“Tennesseans can help with that surge by staying at home,” Lee said. “We are the leading state for testing per capita, and the most aggressive in testing nationwide.”

Lee acknowledged the “overwhelming impact” the virus has had on tourism around the state.

“Business owners are bearing the brunt of the safer at home order,” Lee said. “In the short term it is incredibly painful, but know that I understand them and hear them, and will do everything we can to help them.”