Nashville’s Gradual Plan To Reopen Business Depends On Cases Consistently Decreasing

Nashville Mayor John Cooper said Thursday that the city’s restaurants and retail stores could start opening as soon as early May.

But that will be dependent on whether the county sees a decrease in the average of COVID-19 cases.

The four-phase plan spells out what employers need to do. They will have to maintain social distancing, screen employees daily and clean over and over again.

As of Thursday morning, there were 2,144 confirmed cases in Nashville — an increase of 182 cases over a 24-hour period. That’s the largest one-day jump in the city since the beginning of the outbreak.

“We are only going to be able to advance if we do social distancing techniques correctly and appropriately,” Cooper said in a videoconference with reporters. “That’s what we need to continue to learn from this — how to improve those techniques in every place of work.”

According to the plan, in the first phase, retail businesses will open and restaurants will have dine-in services at half capacity. Employees will also be required to wear face masks and be screened daily.

Phase two allows businesses and restaurants to open at three-quarter capacity. Hair and nail salons will also be allowed by appointment, playgrounds will open, and social gatherings of up to 50 people will be allowed.

Restaurants and businesses will open at full capacity on phase three. Meanwhile, bars and entertainment venues will be allow to open at half capacity. Social gatherings of up to 100 people will be allowed.

Bars and entertainment venues will open at full capacity on phase four.

There’s no guarantee that Nashville will steadily march through the phases. Rising cases could cause officials to step back to a prior phase, for example.

Dr. Alex Jahangir, chairman of the Metro Coronavirus Task Force, said the county will be observing multiple metrics — including a a 14-day rolling average decrease in positive cases — to decide whether the city moves from one phase to another.

“If something worrisome presents in these metrics, we will slow the process down,” Jahangir said.