On Monday, restaurants in Tennessee were permitted to open with dine-in service for the first time in nearly a month
On Monday, restaurants in Tennessee were permitted to open with dine-in service for the first time in nearly a month.
Restrictions have been put in place to help prevent the spread of the virus, including new rules limiting restaurants to 50% capacity, 6-foot social distancing and no more than one dozen people per table.
Employees are required to wear gloves and masks at all times. Live music and self-serve buffets are not included in the relaxation.
On Wednesday, retail is set to reopen with similar guidelines.
The urban areas of Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville will be reopening according to their own timelines.
To this point, the infection-rate curve has not flattened in Tennessee.
Last Sunday, the state saw its biggest single-day increase in cases with 478 new infections. According to the New York Times data from the morning of April 28th, Tennessee had 9,796 cases and 192 deaths.
The move to partially reopen the state despite increasing numbers of infections is controversial and fraught with danger.
If shutdowns are lifted and deaths increase, restrictions will have to return adding more uncertainty to the economy at the same time trust in government is reduced.
