• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




Restaurants, retailers can re-open in AC, Oak Ridge

Posted at 11:35 am April 28, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Restaurants were allowed to re-open under certain guidelines in 89 of the state’s 95 counties on Monday, and retail stores can re-open under similar guidelines on Wednesday.

The guidelines include operating at 50 percent capacity and maintaining social distance (generally keeping people at least six feet apart). The state recommends no live music, and restaurant bars should be kept closed. The state also recommends that employees in both industries wear cloth face coverings and that business owners follow federal guidelines for hygiene and workplace sanitation standards for COVID-19.

The 85 counties where restaurants and retail stores can re-open include Anderson and Roane counties.

Many businesses have been closed or operating under changed conditions as Tennessee, like other states and countries, tried to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

“Tennesseans pulled together to flatten the curve, and it is time for people to begin to get back to work and back to their businesses,” Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said. “We are pursuing a careful, measured approach to reopening our economy that does not depend on heavy-handed mandates but instead provides practical tools for businesses of all sizes.”

Advertisement

Last week, Lee announced he would not extend the statewide stay-at-home order past Thursday, April 30, and he said restaurants and retailers could re-open this week. It’s part of a phased re-opening of the economy.

Lee said retail stores and restaurants are the vast majority of businesses closed across the state.

Guidelines for re-opening gyms and fitness centers, churches, physicians’ offices, and hospitals could be provided this week.

Businesses that are considered “close contact” such as hair, nail, and tanning salons, and tattoo parlors will not re-open until phase two of the governor’s plan. Those businesses, where it’s difficult to separate employees from customers, could open later in May, Lee said Friday.

Lee and Tennessee officials have announced guidelines that they want businesses, employees, and customers to use to help make the re-opening of restaurants and retail stores safer.

Here are the guidelines, provided by the City of Oak Ridge.

Guidelines for Daily Business Activity—Maintaining Social Distancing 

  • Minimize or eliminate the need for waiting rooms and lobby areas by using outdoor space or asking customers to remain in vehicles.
  • Install protective barriers where a six-foot separation is not possible to protect customers and employees.
  • Sanitize common-use areas and amenities such as coffee pots, microwaves, refrigerators, restrooms, doors, computers, and printers.
  • Use online meeting services when possible to reduce social interaction.
  • Use external spaces outside of businesses to maintain social distancing requirements of six feet.
  • Limit gatherings to no more than 10 people and make sure appropriate distances are maintained.
  • Encourage online shopping and store-to-business delivery. 
  • Engage in telecommuting with employees when possible.
  • Limit points of entry by public.
  • Clean and sanitize frequently.

Planning for Restaurants and Facilities

  • Provide personal protective equipment for employees to handle food or merchandise.
  • Face coverings and gloves are to be used by employees, and customers are encouraged to use masks (except customers may remove face coverings while eating and drinking).
  • Establish social distancing of six feet between tables, chairs, and people.
  • Capacity (50 percent) is based on the number of tables before March 1, 2020. The six-foot distance is measured from the back of one chair to the back of another. The capacity plan should not include the bar area. 
  • Tables and chairs should be cleaned after each seating or turnover of customers.
  • Shared condiment containers must cleaned after each customer, and single use condiment packets are encouraged.
  • Restaurants with a bar may serve dine-in customers or as part of to-go orders. Beer licenses by state law are for premises only and do not include areas outside of restaurants or patio facilities.
  • Curbside pickup and delivery are encouraged as alternate options 
  • No live music or dance floors. This is to prevent customers and employees from congregating.
  • No self-service buffets, salad bars, or self-service condiment or beverage stations that require the consumer to touch any part of the dispensing apparatus. No refills on self-service beverages.
  • Continuously screen incoming employees and customers for symptoms and use temperature checks before accessing facilities.

Planning for Retail Stores and Facilities

  • Employees and customers should always wear face coverings inside stores. 
  • Develop shopping hours for elderly and vulnerable populations.
  • Continuously prompt customers to observe social distancing.
  • Retail stores should use 50 percent of the defined store capacity limits. Third-party vendor space is separate. Call (865) 425-3524 with questions.
  • Rearrange floor displays and racks to encourage one-way routing or the greater separation of customers.
  • Employees should frequently clean hands with sanitizer or soap.

Remaining Regulated Public Facilities

  • Current Tennessee executive orders state that bars, salons, barbershops, theaters, and gyms are not included in the above changes and will remain closed.
  • Government buildings will remain closed to the public except for arranged visits and appointments.
  • Public playground facilities will remain closed.
  • Gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited by executive order, except equivalents of the 50 percent capacity rule for restaurants.

The state guidance can be found here.

Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Mark Ezell, who chairs the Tennessee Economic Recovery Group, said the state’s guidelines for restaurants and retail stores were developed in cooperation with business leaders in both sectors, mayors from across the state, and members of the legislature and health experts, as well as Unified Command, which includes the Tennessee Department of Health. He said the re-opening of future sectors would be accomplished with similar input from industry leaders and elected officials.

“We need Tennessee businesses, workers, and consumers to step up and pledge to follow these guidelines,” Ezell said. “It is critically important that we maintain our commitment to social distancing and adhere to these new guidelines so that we can continue to reopen our economy.”

Advertisement

The governor is working separately with Knox, Madison, Davidson, Hamilton, Shelby, and Sullivan counties and their health departments to plan their own re-opening strategies.

Restaurant industry guidance can be downloaded here, retail industry guidance can be downloaded here, and general guidance for Tennessee businesses can be downloaded here.

A comprehensive summary of the guidance can be downloaded here.

Lee and the Economic Recovery Group will provide specific guidance for more Tennessee industries in the coming weeks. More information on the Tennessee Pledge is available here, and more information on Tennessee’s Economic Recovery Group is available here.

If a restaurant does not operate in a safe manner, or if health outcomes demonstrate that a particular business or industry sector is unable to be operated in a sufficiently safe manner, the governor and/or other applicable state officials may issue additional orders concerning that business or industry, the governor’s office said.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

You can contact John Huotari, owner and publisher of Oak Ridge Today, at (865) 951-9692 or [email protected]

Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. This is a free story. Thank you to our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. You can see what we cover here.


Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

Copyright 2021 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Business, COVID-19, Front Page News, Government, Health, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Bill Lee, COVID-19, Oak Ridge, re-opening, restaurants, retail stores, retailers, Tennessee, Tennessee Pledge

Advertisements

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Business News

SIRA-Regatta-April-17-2016-Slider-1

Regatta season starts next week

The 2016 SIRA Championship Regatta is pictured above in Oak Ridge on Sunday, April 17, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) This year's regatta season will start next week with the Cardinal Invitational … [Read More...]

ORNL FCU will lease space to Anderson County Family Justice Center

Pictured above are Melissa Miller, site coordinator for Anderson County Family Justice Center; Colin Anderson, president and chief executive officer, ORNL Federal Credit Union; and Dave Clark, district attorney general … [Read More...]

ORUD announces new president, general manager

Jeff Patterson ORUD has announced its new president and general manager, Jeff Patterson. Patterson has been an employee of ORUD for a long time, the natural gas provider said in a press release Wednesday. The … [Read More...]

Natural gas rates will rise, expected to drop when prices decline

Natural gas rates will increase for Oak Ridge Utility District customers because of weather-related price increases and higher transportation costs. Rates are expected to decrease when weather-related spikes … [Read More...]

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020

Planning Commission to discuss district that would allow motorsports park

Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (File photo by John … [Read More...]

More Business

More Government News

Suggs promoted to deputy city manager

Jack Suggs Oak Ridge Electric Director Jack Suggs has been promoted to deputy city manager. He will start his new job Monday, March 8. In his new position, Suggs will help with several projects, including the new … [Read More...]

Roane State helps with experiment to provide high-speed Internet access to rural communities

Roane State Community College played a crucial role in an experiment to get high-speed Internet to rural communities currently lacking what’s become an essential component of modern life. (Photo by Yvette … [Read More...]

Parking at Melton Lake Park to be closed for regatta March 13 & 14

Rowing at Melton Hill Lake (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge) The parking lots at Melton Lake Park will be closed to the public during a regatta next week. The regatta, the 2021 Oak Ridge Louisville Cardinal … [Read More...]

City of Oak Ridge Seal

Oak Ridge releases water quality report

The annual water quality report is now available for viewing on the City of Oak Ridge website, and the report says Oak Ridge water was in compliance with state and federal drinking water requirements, a press release … [Read More...]

Gov. Lee lifts nursing home restrictions, extends state of emergency

Bill Lee Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Friday said he has extended a limited state of emergency through April 28 and lifted state visitation restrictions on nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The … [Read More...]

More Government

Recent Posts

  • Suggs promoted to deputy city manager
  • Basketball: Wildcats play in sectional game tonight
  • Victim of Claxton shooting reported to be in critical but stable condition
  • Oak Ridge man dies in motorcycle crash on Oak Ridge Turnpike
  • Roane State helps with experiment to provide high-speed Internet access to rural communities
  • Parking at Melton Lake Park to be closed for regatta March 13 & 14
  • Regatta season starts next week
  • ORISE receives DOE silver award for GreenBuy program
  • Blasius to discuss Downtown Oak Ridge on Tuesday
  • Oak Ridge releases water quality report

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today