Churchgoers sitting six-feet apart in face masks pack the pews in Tennessee as the state prepares to join others in easing lockdown restrictions
A Tennessee church has held their second in-person service as the state prepares to join others in easing their coronavirus restrictions this week.
Congregants of the Middle Valley Church of God were seen worshiping during a service Sunday morning as their pastor Mitch McClure delivered the sermon.
The members appeared to abide by the CDC-recommended social distancing guidelines during the service.
All of the members were also seen wearing face masks as they clapped and prayed.
Members of the Middle Valley Church of God gathered for service on Sunday. The church pastor, Mitch McClure, is seen delivering a sermon to his congregation who appear to be abiding by the CDC-recommended social distancing guidelines
Churchgoer Lenda Clark stands at a pew during worship at the beginning of service at the Middle Valley Church of God on Sunday
Lacreta Simmons, a member of the Middle Valley Church of God, applauds during worship on Sunday
John Kenner, a member of the Middle Valley Church of God, claps during worship at the beginning of service on Sunday
McClure's wife, Sherri McClure, is seen speaking with churchgoers before service on Sunday
Churchgoer Craig Paul sings during worship at the beginning of service on Sunday
Churches in Georgia and Montana also held in-person services on Sunday.
In Georgia, members of the 'Smallest Church in America' were seen praying inside the tiny building.
Meanwhile in Montana, congregants were seen attending at least two of the state's churches.
More than a dozen people gathered at the Christ the King Lutheran Church in Billings, Montana, while a few dozen parishioners went to mass at St Anthony Catholic Church in Laurel, Montana.
It's unclear if the members of either church were wearing masks as photos mainly captured congregants with their backs facing the camera.
Another wave of US states are preparing to lift lockdown restrictions this week against the warnings of many public health experts as the White House sees this month's jobless rate hitting 16 per cent or higher.
Health experts say increased human interaction could spark a new wave of cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the highly contagious virus that has already killed more than 55,000 Americans.
Colorado, Mississippi, Minnesota, Montana and Tennessee will join other states beginning an experiment to reopen economies without the testing and contact-tracing infrastructure health experts say is needed to prevent a resurgence of infections.
Shauna Swain Riggs exits the 'Smallest Church In America' ahead of offering her Sunday prayers in Townsend, Georgia, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic
Members offer prayers inside the 'Smallest Church In America' in Townsend, Georgia, on Sunday
Members of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Billings, Montana, attended service on Sunday. Montana has begun a phase-in reopening of businesses and gathering places as infection rates from the coronavirus decline in the state
Parishioners attend mass at St Anthony Catholic Church in Laurel, Montana on Sunday
Georgia, Oklahoma, Alaska and South Carolina have already taken steps to restart their economies following a month of government-ordered lockdowns.
Those unprecedented restrictions resulted in a record 26.5 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits since mid-March.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted on Friday that the economy would contract at nearly a 40 per cent annual rate in the second quarter.
Even next year, the CBO forecast the unemployment rate averaging above 10 per cent.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters that the jobless rate would likely hit 16 per cent or more in April.
'I think the next couple of months are going to look terrible,' Hassett said on Sunday. 'You're going to see numbers as bad as anything we've ever seen before.'
Against a backdrop of scattered protests across the country calling for stay-at-home orders to be lifted, US cases topped 978,000 on Sunday after posting a record one-day increase on Friday.
New York and other states have extended restrictions to mid-May. New York reported 367 new deaths on Sunday, its lowest increase since March 31.
New York won't start it's first phase of reopening until after May 15. Long Islanders were out and about at Jones Beach to enjoy a sunny Saturday amid the state being on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wantagh, New York
Women wearing gloves and face masks walk down the Brighton Beach boardwalk in the Brooklyn borough of New York on Saturday
Emmy Homer (right) gets a pedicure from Thuy Ho at BA Nail & Spa in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on Friday. The shop was among several allowed to reopen in a loosening of coronavirus-related restrictions
Linzie Castro cuts the hair of Chase Ridgeway inside Azalon Hair Studio and Boutique in Yukon, Oklahoma, on Friday
Barber Patrick Watkins of Jet Cuts & Styles finishes up a haircut on Darrell Stevens at the reopened barbershop in Athens, Georgia, on Friday
Megan Yelton works at Sid and Nancy thrift and consignment store on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina. Beaches and some businesses deemed nonessential were allowed to reopen this week in South Carolina
Small business owner Birl Hicks helps a customer at Area 57 at Columbia Place Mall on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina
A couple pick out their wedding bands at Bishops Jewelry Gallery in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Friday. Alaska businesses slowly began reopening Friday in an effort to restart the state's economy
A diner orders lunch at the Airport Way Family Restaurant in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Friday. The state's largest city, Anchorage, will allow businesses to reopen beginning Monday
Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo said construction and manufacturing would be the first businesses to reopen and could restart after May 15 in the upstate region with certain precautions and if cases continue to decline.
Other states, mainly those with Republican governors, have taken a more aggressive approach.
Tennessee said it will allow restaurants to reopen on Monday. Mississippi's stay-at-home order expires the same day.
Montana, which reported three new cases on Sunday, is allowing businesses to reopen Monday if they limit capacity and practice social distancing.
Minnesota will let some businesses restart on Monday, allowing 80,000 to 100,000 people in the industrial, manufacturing and office jobs to go back to work.
In Colorado, Democratic Governor Jared Polis has given the green light for retail curbside pickup to begin on Monday.
Hair salons, barbershop and tattoo parlors can open on Friday, with retail stores, restaurants and movie theaters to follow.
Royal Rose is reopening her tattoo studio in Greeley, Colorado this week after closing a month ago, not because she wants to but because the bills are piling up and she says she has no choice.
'I would stay home if the government encouraged that, but they're not, they're saying "Hey, the best thing to do is go back to work, even though it might be risky,"' Rose said.
But the lifting of restrictions is not uniform across most states.
For example, Denver extended stay-at-home orders to May 8 but city dwellers can drive to a nearby county for a haircut.
Georgia prohibited any local laws stricter than the state law.
Eight states never ordered residents to stay at home - Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
Several opinion polls have shown a bipartisan majority of Americans want to remain at home to protect themselves from the coronavirus, despite the impact to the economy.
Churchgoers sitting six-feet apart in face masks pack the pews in Tennessee as the state prepares to join others in easing lockdown restrictions
![Churchgoers sitting six-feet apart in face masks pack the pews in Tennessee as the state prepares to join others in easing lockdown restrictions]()
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April 27, 2020
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