MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) — The pastor of a Mt. Juliet church claims Governor Bill Lee has allowed for the creation of “quarantine camps” for Tennesseans who refuse to get vaccinated.
During service on Sunday at Global Vision Bible Church, Pastor Greg Locke told the crowd that the governor has “authorized the Tennessee department of FEMA to build what they call, in his own authorized pages of a signature, ‘quarantine camps.'”
He continued, “I ain’t talking about East Germany, I’m talking about Tennessee.”
“‘Quarantine camps,’ for the uninformed people that are still in refusal to be vaccinated,” Locke explained. “If that don’t bother you, you might as well show up at another church next week because I’m gonna keep raising Cain about all this nonsense. I don’t care what Bill Lee says.”
The portion of Gov. Lee’s Executive Order 83 that Locke appeared to be referencing is bullet point #18, which states:
“Temporary quarantine and isolation facilities may be constructed. The provisions
of Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-11-202( c )( 1 )-(8), are hereby suspended
to allow for the construction of temporary structures, the plans for which would
otherwise be subject to review for new construction, additions, or substantial
alterations, as directed by the Commissioner of Health and the Director of TEMA
in response to COVID-19; provided, that there shall be inspections of such
structures to ensure safety, as necessary.”
While the Tennessee Department of Health reports 11% of hospital floor beds and 8% of ICU beds are available in the state, Pastor Locke expressed his disagreement.
“They’re talking about all these hospitals are overflowing with people. Why don’t you carry a camera in one of these hospitals that’s supposed to be overflowing with COVID patients and show me how empty they are? These chicks are in there doing TikTok dances,” the pastor told his congregation.
Pastor Locke said last month during another service that his congregation should not buy into the Delta variant “nonsense,” and added that he would kick out members who show up in a mask.
During the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Pastor Locke announced he had no plans to stop holding service despite a warning from Gov. Bill Lee, who had urged churches to move their services online.
The Tennessee Department of Health reports nearly 46% of people statewide have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while approximately 40% of residents are fully vaccinated.
There are 38,563 people actively infected with the virus in Tennessee, as of Tuesday morning, according to state health officials.