Update: The Knox County Health Department, after reviewing the operations of PureMagic Carwash, sent owner Jim Rooney an email saying it has "received additional guidance and you are in compliance with your company operating." The note from Ronnie Nease, the director of environmental health, also noted Rooney's "diligence in protecting your staff and customers."

Despite a Knox Country order to shut down nonessential businesses, some remained open Wednesday — a defiant act that medical professionals say could cause significantly more coronavirus deaths.

That's especially true if Gov. Bill Lee does not take statewide action to close nonessential businesses, said Dr. Aaron Milstone, a pulmonary and critical care physician in Franklin, Tennessee.

Milstone is behind a petition that has garnered roughly 20,000 signatures encouraging Lee to issue a statewide stay-at-home order to lessen the spread of coronavirus, or COVID-19.

Lee's decisions could be the difference between 4,000 and 40,000 coronavirus deaths across Tennessee, Milstone said.

"For me, I simply want to be on the right side of history," he told Knox News.

People flock to what's open

Knoxville Wholesale Furniture was open for business Wednesday, although customers were scarce.

Owner Tim Harris told Knox News that his interpretation of Knox County's Safer at Home order — the directive that closes nonessential businesses — allows him to stay open because his business makes deliveries. About 92% of his customers get their furniture delivered, he said.

But Harris is still allowing customers in the store, even if they aren't showing up in usual numbers.

Milstone said that when businesses like restaurants and bars close, people tend to flock to places that are open.

"All of a sudden, you have them going furniture shopping or people going to bowling allies or people going to places like big-box stores," he said. "Say one COVID patient at a Knoxville furniture store where you're at today infects three people. ... Over the next three days, those three people infect three people a piece. So now you have nine."

Those numbers can easily add up, potentially reaching 50,000 in just 10 days, he said.

But Harris rejects the advice of medical professionals.

'You have to listen to people in business'

Knoxville Wholesale Furniture wasn't the only business open Wednesday. A steady flow of cars were going in and out of PureMagic Carwash on Kingston Pike.

Jim Rooney, president and CEO, said Thursday that his business is classified as essential under his reading of the Safer at Home order because it offers vehicle services. That section of the county's order says in full "vehicle fuel, support and service stations, vehicle parts and repair businesses, and vehicle sales, leasing and rental businesses" are considered essential.

Further, he said, maintaining a clean vehicle helps prevent the spread of the virus.

Rooney also said his business has taken extensive steps to protect the public, including serving customers only through the drive-through, closing lobbies and restrooms to the public and implementing safety and hygiene standards.

"The health and safety of our customers and employees has always been a top priority," Rooney wrote in an email to Knox News.

At the furniture store, hardly anyone has been coming in. The decline in business is part of the reason some of his employees have showed up to work in tears worried about making their house payments, Harris said.

"We might as well be closed because we're doing hardly any business," he said. "I could have laid half of them off — skeleton crew, close the store. ... But the No. 1 thing that's going to overrule this in my eyes is I want to keep these people working."

Harris thinks his furniture stores are big enough for people to practice social distancing — more so than at a grocery store. At the end of the day, when it comes to government making decisions about coronavirus, there's more to consider than just health, he said.

"You can't just listen to the doctors," Harris said. "You have to listen to the doctors, plus you have to listen to people in business. You listen to the average citizen. And sometimes, you have a bad decision and a worse decision. ... I respect what the doctor says."

'Put some teeth behind it'

In addition to a stay-at-home order, physicians are also calling for Lee to require nonessential businesses to close on a statewide level and for people returning to Tennessee from other states to self-quarantine.

Local governments that don't operate under a charter like Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville can't close down businesses, they need the governor to do it.

All Milstone wants is for Lee to give it a try for 14 days.

"It's clear that a stay-at-home mandate works if you put some teeth behind it," he said.

Milstone appeared Wednesday on MSNBC and compared Tennessee's coronavirus numbers to Kentucky's.

The two states had similar case numbers on March 16, which is when Kentucky took "aggressive, early action" that included closing restaurants for in-person dining, Milstone said.

The difference in coronavirus cases between the two states — 784 in Tennessee compared to 198 in Kentucky — is the difference between strong and weak leadership, he said.

But if people don't follow orders once they are put in place, Milstone told Knox News, it takes away from the impact these orders can have.

Milstone believes a solid statewide campaign will help people in communities begin to realize the severity of the coronavirus threat.

'This is not a greed-happy situation'

For now, Harris said, Knoxville Wholesale Furniture plans to stay open. An increase in Knox County coronavirus cases could change his mind, he said.

The county, for its part, is relying on "the common sense and goodwill of our community and our business community to make decisions" when it comes to closing and protecting public health.

"This was not an easy decision because it's costing our company a lot of money," Harris said. "This is not a greed-happy situation."

But the sicker people get, the longer Tennessee's economy is going to be weakened. If 40,000 people die, Milstone said, Tennessee could become an "epicenter" for coronavirus.

And once we "cross the point of no return," the economy will be far worse off, he said.