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Restaurants, retailers can increase capacity; live music permitted; large attractions can re-open Friday

Posted at 4:59 pm May 20, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Restaurants and retail stores in most of Tennessee’s counties can increase their capacity starting Friday if they follow certain guidelines, and large attractions such as amusement and water parks, auditoriums and theaters, and zoos and large museums can re-open under certain conditions on Friday.

Restaurants and retailers had been limited to 50 percent capacity since re-opening the week of April 27. There is no certain capacity limit for restaurants, as a percentage, under the updated guidelines released by the Tennessee Economic Recovery Group on Wednesday. Instead, the focus is on making sure tables are properly spaced.

The restaurants and retailers had been closed for about a month as the state tried to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory disease that can be deadly.

Under the new guidelines, restaurants and retail stores can increase their capacity starting Friday as long as they continue to follow social distancing protocols. For restaurants, those protocols include continuing to space tables six feet apart—or installing physical barriers where adequate separation isn’t possible. Bars are to remain closed unless they are used for seated, in-restaurant dining where there is six feet of separation between customer groups. Live music is permitted with certain precautions, including maintaining at least 15 feet of separation between performers and an audience in order to reduce potential exposures.

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Filed Under: Business, COVID-19, Front Page News, Government, Health, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Bill Lee, capacity, COVID-19, restaurants, retail stores, retailers, social distancing, Tennessee, Tennessee Economic Recovery Group, Tennessee Pledge

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.”

[Read more…]

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

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Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

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