by Tyler Arnold
Restaurants throughout 89 Tennessee counties reopened their doors to dine-in customers Monday with some regulations to increase sanitation and promote social distancing in accordance with Gov. Bill Lee’s Tennessee Pledge.
“We are pleased to see restaurants opened today and the great efforts they’re making to adopt the Tennessee Pledge,” Lee said during a news conference. “I was excited to see that Puckett’s Restaurant welcomed customers to breakfast with tables spread apart, utilizing personal protective equipment [and] customer spacing. That is the essence of the Tennessee Pledge, and we are commending their work and work just like it that’s happening all across our state.”
The pledge calls on restaurants to operate at 50 percent capacity, keep tables 6 feet apart and follow sanitization rules for menus and silverware. Although these guidelines will not be enforced by the state, Lee believes restaurants will follow them.
Lee lifted the prohibition on dining out at restaurants for every county that doesn’t have its own health department. In six counties that have their own health departments, Lee is letting them reopen on their own schedule, including Knox County, which announced Monday it plans to allow businesses to reopen starting Friday.
Despite the ban lift, some restaurants, including a few chains, have chosen to stick with offering only take-out and delivery for the time being, including McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A and Dunkin’ Donuts.
Retail shops will be allowed to reopen Wednesday. Lee is requesting they also operate at or below 50 percent capacity, enforce social distancing and have their employees wear gloves and masks.
Lee said he understands the implications of his previous orders to shut down these establishments, and he hopes reopening many businesses gives people a light of hope about the course in which the state will be going. He said one in six Tennesseans currently face unemployment.
If people can work from home, Lee said they should do so as much as possible. He said state workers who can do their jobs from home will continue to do so. He also ordered the Department of Finance and Administration to freeze non-mission critical hires to the state workforce until the economy starts to improve.
According to the Tennessee Department of Health, the state has 9,918 COVID-19 cases – 251 more than Sunday. In Tennessee, 184 have died, 4,720 have recovered and 828 have been hospitalized. The state has performed 154,402 tests.
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus. The disease has caused at least 56,624 deaths in the U.S., with more than 1 million confirmed cases in the country. COVID-19 symptoms appear within two to 14 days after exposure and include fever, cough, runny nose and difficulty breathing.
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Tyler Arnold is a contributor to The Center Square.
I can understand why an owner of a small business wants to reopen as they have bills to pay off in the hopes of eventually breaking even and getting back into the black. It is not them that I am complaining about. Rather, it is the person who wants to reopen his or her favorite gulf course or swimming pool for personal recreational use when it is somebody else other than him or her that would have to go to work and risk health just so this person can have a place to do recreation. That is selfish. At least the small business owner has a LEGITIMATE reason to want to reopen while the person who just wants a place to recreate oneself without regards to others has a false sense of privilege.
I want to see a reopening of small businesses too provided that it does not jeopardize the public safety, which comes first. I think most small business owners would agree.
Glad to see Puckett’s reopening.
We have family in central Tennessee and have dined at Puckett’s several times.
Looking to come back!
Our family loves Puckett’s as well!