NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Nashville entered a new phase of reopening even with COVID-19 cases on the rise, but officials said Monday that the city won’t advance past this phase for at least a month.
The move comes as Tennessee collectively has seen its new cases of COVID-19 trend upward. The state on Friday reported its biggest single-day increase in positive cases since the pandemic began in March.
Nashville’s third phase notably allows event spaces and small music venues to operate at half capacity, or up to 250 attendees, while bars can open at half capacity.
The remaining closed metro parks and facilities, including playgrounds and basketball courts, can reopen, and camps can operate at full capacity with social distancing. Schools can also open with restrictions.
In moving forward, Mayor John Cooper cited Nashville’s testing capacity, contract tracing levels and adequate hospital beds. The phases originally were meant to last two weeks each, though the second phase lasted a month.