A newly-appointed Economic Recovery Group will detail strategies to "reboot" Tennessee's economy next month, Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday afternoon. Tennessee Tourism Development Commissioner Mark Ezell will lead the group.

The news came hours after Lee joined a phone call with Vice President Mike Pence to begin coordinating the phased reopening of the nation's industries, one region at a time.

"We understand that this decision and this reboot and the steps we're going to take have to be made with consideration that safety and health of Tennesseans is utmost," Lee said. "We can't sacrifice the safety and health of Tennesseans. But we also can't keep our economy shut down."

Lee's Safer at Home order mandating Tennesseans to leave their homes only for essential reasons, set to expire Tuesday, was also extended through the end of April.

The Economic Recovery Group will coordinate with industry leaders, state legislators, mayors and health care professionals to recommend "how to begin a phased-in reopening of our economy," Lee said.

Tennessee is working in tandem with White House officials on plans, while Northeastern and West Coast states are developing their own strategies separately.

The key to relaxing restrictions will be maintaining social distancing buffers between individuals in public of at least six feet, the governor said. Health officials and economists have warned that coronavirus will surge with even more disastrous consequences if people don't remain isolated.

Lee did not name other members of the commission.

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce President Ralph Schulz said he talked with the governor's office about the best way to balance the conflicting health and economic risks.

"We expect the recovery to go as other recoveries have gone, with a couple key industries like health care, logistics and manufacturing leading the way," Schulz said. "We will have to put a special emphasis on industries like hospitality for that to recover as quickly as possible."

More than 250,000 Tennesseans filed unemployment claims since the business shutdowns prompted by the pandemic ravaged the economy in mid-March.

The state's tourism industry, the second biggest economic driver behind agriculture, is especially hard hit as travel dried up, restaurants and bars shuttered, and hotels sit largely empty.

Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. CEO Butch Spyridon said he joined an advisory group to relaunch the tourism industry.

"Commissioner Ezell has asked me to serve on his tourism recovery committee," Spyridon said. "That will involve developing the plan itself. At this time there is no plan."

State health officials are working to rapidly expand coronavirus testing in the next few weeks to coincide with more businesses reopening. More than 76,000 tests were administered as of Monday.

The group will also work with other committees overseeing the COVID-19 pandemic response, including massive shipments of health care personal protective equipment around the state.

The virus killed 109 Tennesseans and sent a total of 579 people to hospitals by Monday.

But the state has successfully begun to flatten the curve with a steady decreased rate of new cases since early April. That progress could be reversed with increased interactions as businesses deemed "nonessential" under the Safer at Home order restart operations, Lee said.

"We need Tennesseans to go back to work, but we also need everyone to recognize that physical distancing must continue for the foreseeable future," Lee said. "We have a serious risk that this disease could come roaring back and erase all the progress we've made. Until a vaccine or therapy is widely available, the virus will be a present reality."

Sandy Mazza can be reached via email at smazza@tennessean.com, by calling 615-726-5962, or on Twitter @SandyMazza.