Prior to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s signing of Executive Order No. 22, Nashville-Davidson County issued its own “Safer at Home” Order which remains in effect. Citizens are encouraged to shelter at home as much as possible. City parks remain open, but citizens are directed to adhere to the CDC’s guidance on social distancing and hygiene.
All businesses not performing essential services shall close their facilities, but shall remain accessible as needed to service equipment, process mail, and maintain security. Specifically, the following businesses are directed to close their on-site activities:
- Hospitality, educational, and entertainment venues.
- Personal appearance businesses, including hair, nail, massage, tattoo, tanning, waxing, and other such facilities, except when the service is medically necessary.
- Public and private social clubs.
The Nashville-Davidson County Order does not apply to activities necessary to maintain continuity of operations of critical infrastructure sectors. It also does not apply to the following businesses, expressly designated as essential services:
- Federal and state offices and services, and private companies or individuals performing under federal, state, or local government contracts.
- Law enforcement, public transportation, and businesses that provide government programs and services.
- Companies providing media, communication, and telecommunication services.
- Grocery and beverage stores, farmers markets, food banks, caterers, convenience stores, and other businesses that directly support the food supply.
- Health care, mental and behavioral health, biomedical research, laboratory services, and other businesses that directly support the health care industry (i.e., health information technology; staffing; and supplies)
- Sanitation and waste removal.
- Energy, water, and sewage businesses and services.
- Pharmacies, medical supply, and other businesses that directly support the drug and medical supply pipeline.
- Vehicle fuel, support, and service stations, parts and repair businesses, and vehicle sales, leasing, and rental businesses.
- Banks, savings and loans, insurance companies, accounting businesses, and other businesses that directly support the insurance and financial services sectors;
- Real property marketing, leasing, purchase, and sale services.
- Legal and judicial services.
- Laundromats, laundry, and cleaning services.
- Home and business structure and equipment repair, hardware, building supply, and appliance sale and repairs.
- Warehousing and storage facilities.
- Construction, architectural, engineering, or surveying services.
- Product logistics, transport, and distribution businesses.
- Parcel transportation and delivery businesses.
- Veterinary and pet supply business and services.
- Home and business cleaning and maintenance services.
- Educational institutions, public and private K-12 schools, private colleges and universities, trade schools, post-secondary, and technical colleges, BUT ONLY as needed to facilitate online or distance learning and essential functions.
- Landscaping and nurseries.
- Production, distribution, and sale of household consumer goods such as cleaning and personal care products.
- Essential building maintenance and security.
- Individuals whose job functions require them to be at their work location and who are essential to preserving the information systems, accounting, and HR infrastructures of any business.
- Non-profits providing support and assistance to victims of the March 3, 2020 tornado and COVID-19.
However, even essential services are encouraged to maximize opportunities for telecommuting or working from home.
The Nashville-Davidson County Order expressly permits the following businesses to remain open, subject to compliance with certain conditions:
- Daycare and childcare businesses shall prioritize children of parents working for essential infrastructure sectors, businesses, or service providers to the extent practicable.
- Assisted living facilities, nursing homes, adult daycare centers, home health businesses and senior residential facilities shall follow CDC guidance on social distancing and hygiene to the extent practicable and shall end non-essential social and educational programs.
- Hotels, short term rental properties, commercial lodges, and dorms shall cease entertainment or dine-in services, while still permitting food and beverage pick-up and room-service.
Like Executive Order No. 17, the Nashville-Davidson County “Safer at Home” Order reiterates the need for essential services to make best efforts to establish hours of operations exclusively available to senior citizens or otherwise vulnerable populations.
The Order became effective at 12:01 a.m. on March 23, 2020, and shall remain in effect for fourteen (14) days—until April 6, 2020—subject to extension. The full text of the Nashville-Davidson County Order can be found here.
Overviews of other Tennessee COVID-19 related governmental orders may be found here:
- Tennessee Responds to COVID-19 Outbreak
- Tennessee Executive Order No. 18 Prohibits Elective Procedures
- Overviews of Tennessee Executive Order Nos. 17 & 21
If you have any questions or need support in understanding and implementing the state or local guidance regarding COVID-19, please feel free to contact:
Alan Bean at (615) 905-7199 or abean@starneslaw.com
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This information is not intended to provide legal advice, and no legal or business decision should be based on its content. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. Read full disclaimer.