Star Staff Reports
NASHVILLE — As Tennessee continues to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the state’s Economic Recovery Group announced last week it will lift capacity restrictions on restaurants and retail to instead focus on social distancing best practices effective May 22 and issue guidelines to facilitate the safe reopening of larger, non-contact attractions on or after May 22.
New Tennessee Pledge guidelines will be released early next week. Six counties – Shelby, Madison, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox and Sullivan – may continue to follow individual, county-specific reopening plans created in consultation with State and local health departments.
“Tennesseans have worked incredibly hard to do their part and help slow the spread of COVID-19 so that our state can begin to reopen,” said Governor Bill Lee. “Thanks to their continued efforts, we’re able to allow restaurants and retail businesses to operate at greater capacity and large attractions to open in a safe and thoughtful way.
“Our state continues to see downward trends in case growth and meets the White House criteria for a phased reopening,” he continued. “This progress has been hard-won, and we can build upon it by reopening while also maintaining common-sense safety measures like mask-wearing and good hygiene. By taking the Tennessee Pledge, our businesses can reopen in a way that protects the health of their customers and employees, and protects the livelihoods of hard-working Tennesseans.”
The new Large Attractions guidance applies to those businesses that can effectively practice social distancing with strong measures to protect both employees and customers, including racetracks, amusement parks, waterparks, theaters and dinner theaters, auditoriums, large museums and more. Restrictions on social gatherings of more than 10 people remain in place for the time being.
Updates to Restaurant Guidance will include a lift on capacity restrictions, allowing for increased service as long as social distancing guidelines are adhered to, including 6 feet between tables.
The updated guidelines come as Tennessee continues to meet the White House state gating criteria for phased reopening. The gating criteria include:
Symptoms
Downward trajectory of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) reported within a 14-day period; and
Downward trajectory of COVID-like syndromic (CLI) cases reported within a 14-day period
Cases
Downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period; or
Downward trajectory of positive tests as a percent of total tests within a 14-day period (flat or increasing volume of tests)
Hospitals
Treat all patients without crisis care; and
Robust testing program in place for at-risk healthcare workers, including emerging antibody testing
Participants should receive their test results within 72 hours, depending on test processing volume at laboratories. Information will be provided to participants at the testing locations on what they can expect after being tested. This information is also available at: www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/cedep/novel-coronavirus/TestedGuidance.pdf.
Any Tennessean with health concerns, or who has concerns about the health of a family member, can obtain a free COVID-19 test any day of the week, at any county health department. Find testing locations at https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/ncov/remote-assessment-sites.html.
Governor Lee formed the UCG on March 23, 2020, bringing together the Tennessee Department of Health, Tennessee Department of Military, and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency to streamline coordination across key Tennessee departments to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
