Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is done with urging Tennessee residents to stay at home.

Lee announced Executive Order 23 on Thursday afternoon, requiring that residents stay at home unless engaging in essential activities.

“Staying home is not an option,” said Lee. “It is a requirement.”

Lee had resisted calls from medical professionals for a stronger stay-at-home order as recently as Tuesday when his Executive Order 22 merely urged residents to stay home.

He instead called on a sense of personal responsibility among residents to limit travel and social contact.

This week, data began showing that residents were not following that recommendation.

Lee noted that vehicle traffic and data on cell phone movement had begun increasing this week, in some cases to pre-COVID-19 levels.

The stronger requirement is aimed at easing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state.

“April stands to be a very tough month for our state,” said Lee, pointing to a surge of cases that models show occurring in the third week of April.

Essential activities are defined in great detail in Executive Order 22, but generally include fundamental needs, like seeking medical attention, shopping for groceries, medicines, or household products, picking up food orders, or educational materials or lunches from schools.

Employees of essential services can also still travel to attend work.

The order remains in effect until 11:59 p.m., April 14.

“We must work together. We must take this seriously. We must stay at home,” said Lee.