Group recreation businesses can reopen Friday in 89 Tennessee counties, but the governor is asking them to follow specific guidelines to maintain sanitary conditions and social distancing.
These businesses and activities include, but are not limited to, bowling alleys, arcades, dance classes, miniature golf courses and water sports.
“As our testing capacity and contact tracing ability continues to improve, it’s time to get Tennesseans back to work safely and successfully,” Gov. Bill Lee said in a news release. “These guidelines were created in partnership with business leaders and health experts to preserve the progress we’ve made and protect the lives and livelihoods of Tennesseans.”
The guidelines encourage businesses to sanitize shared resources after each use, sanitize highly trafficked areas every two hours, remove self-service items and limit self-service options. Businesses are asked to screen customers and employees for symptoms of COVID-19 before letting them enter, and both are asked to wear face coverings.
Businesses are asked to keep equipment spaced 6 feet apart and keep groups 6 feet away from each other. Groups also should be smaller than 10 people.
Team leagues and activities are to remain closed, as are any activities that include physical contact. Common areas in which it is hard to maintain social distancing also should be closed, according to the guidelines.
Tennessee’s six other counties, which have their own health departments, are reopening on their own schedule. Each county, except for Davidson County/ Nashville, has started the reopening process.
The state has 13,938 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,564 recoveries, according to the Tennessee Department of Health’s most-recent update. There have been 239 deaths, 1,221 hospitalizations and 227,101 have been tested.
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus. The disease has caused at least 73,667 deaths in the U.S., with more than 1.25 confirmed cases in the country. COVID-19 symptoms appear within two to 14 days after exposure and include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.
