Nashville extends coronavirus safer at home order until at least May 8

Mayor John Cooper has extended Nashville’s safer at home order, which closes most businesses and requires residents to stay home as much as possible, until at least the end of next week.

The decision broadens a divide between Davidson County and surrounding counties, where Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee permitted restaurants, stores and gyms to reopen this week.

Cooper and Nashville health officials remain unconvinced the city is ready to take the same steps. During a press conference on Thursday, they said some businesses might be allowed to open in a few days but stressed lifting restrictions prematurely could trigger a chain reaction that would sicken more people, shutter businesses again and potentially even delay the start of the next school year.

“We have to avoid a relapse. A relapse would jeopardize all subsequent future stages," Cooper said. "If each phase gets stalled, or you have to backslide, then the whole economy risks being massively delayed. The trick is to do this one time and to do it right.”

Cooper also on Thursday issued a new order strongly urging all residents to wear face masks while in public. Businesses are expected to post signage and have employees wear face masks, he said.

The governor said Thursday afternoon it was “appropriate” for Cooper to extend his safer at home order, even though the Lee administration has lifted some business restrictions throughout most of the state. Cooper’s extension also drew support from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the largest hospital in Nashville.

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Under the extended safer at home order, restaurants are forbidden from offering dine-in services and retail shops, gyms and hair and nail salons must close. No gatherings over 10 people are permitted. Everyone is asked to stay home unless they are an essential worker or need to go out for essential supplies, like food or medicine.

The extension of this order is not a surprise. Cooper’s original order was set to expire on Friday, and the mayor and his staff have been saying for at least a week that the city will not be ready to open by that date. City officials have published a four-phase “Roadmap for Reopening,” but Nashville is yet to reach even the first phase, which permits restaurants and retails stores to open at half capacity.

City officials are tracking six benchmarks to decide when to move to this phase: The virus transmission rate, the trend of new cases, and capacities for public health, testing, hospital beds and ICU beds. As of Friday morning, city officials considered the virus trend and transmission rate "less than satisfactory” for reopening. Coronavirus cases have spiked in the city over the past week, and the virus is currently trending upwards, according to documents released by city officials.

Dr. Alex Jahangir, chairman of Nashville's coronavirus task force, said the city might be ready to open restaurants and stores if it detects 80 or less new cases of the virus over the next few days. Jahangir has not committed to any deadlines for reopening.

“I know its frustrating not to have a date when we will reopen,” he said Thursday. “But staying focused and staying home a little longer will help prevent a rebound of the virus. And we don’t want that. A rebound would reverse the progress we have made at flattening the curve and the reopening process would take even longer.”

Cooper said it was an achievement to even be close to reopening businesses at all.

Less than a month ago, it was believed that Nashville would need to convert Music City Center into a emergency coronavirus hospital, but dedicated social distancing has made this unnecessary, the mayor said.

"That’s an incredible achievement, and that was hard earned by all of us,” Cooper said. “If we were allowed to pat each other on the back, we should all be patting each other on the back.”

Brett Kelman is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 615-259-8287 or at brett.kelman@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @brettkelman.