Sen. Doug Jones is backing Gov. Kay Ivey in her decision to keep a stay-at-home order in place at least through the end of April.

A stay-at-home order has been in place for more than a month due to the coronavirus pandemic. The state has also ordered all “non-essential” businesses, including barber and beauty shops, retail stores and gyms, to close “at least” until April 30.

And while governors in Georgia and Tennessee have announced plans for phased re-openings in their states, Ivey said she needs more information before changing the existing orders.

“I am as eager as anyone to get our economy back open and operating on all cylinders again. We have to do it in a smart way,” she said.

Jones, a Democrat, said the Republican governor’s “measured” approach is the correct one.

“Everyone wants to get our economy rolling again and I understand the incredible pressure the governor is facing to rush this process and follow our neighboring states. Her remarks today about the importance of having more testing capacity than we currently have and putting our citizens’ health care needs first are spot-on,” Jones said.

Jones said he believed the governor’s stay-at-home order and social distancing practiced by Alabamians “has saved lives” but warned “we are by no means out of the woods yet.”

“We must ensure we can sustain the good progress we have made on the health care crisis, but we can only do so if we have a strong testing regime in place, reduce cases for two consecutive weeks, and continue social distancing practices before we can responsibly and safely re-open our economy for business.

“We all want to get there as soon as possible, but we need to do it in a way that follows the data and the guidance of our public health officials.”

Ivey is currently collecting data from health and elected officials, business leaders and Alabama’s U.S. legislative delegation on how and when to reopen the state but no timeline has been announced.