Health Director Order 3: Safer at Home (Amended and Restated)

Pursuant to the Declaration of Public Health Emergency adopted by the Board of Health for Nashville and Davidson County on March 15, 2020

From: Dr. Michael C Caldwell, Chief Medical Director of Health

This Order is being issued to protect the public health of the citizens of Nashville and Davidson County, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, to bend the curve, and to disrupt the spread of the virus, with the goal of saving lives and reducing strain on regional healthcare resources as much as possible.

Section 1

Citizens of Nashville and Davidson County are urged to shelter at home, to be safer at home. When individuals need to leave their homes or places of residence, they should practice appropriate social distancing, staying six feet apart, and should assume others are infectious, regardless of whether they exhibit symptoms.

All gatherings are strongly discouraged. Gatherings with more than 10 people are prohibited. Gatherings include any event or convening unrelated to essential services that brings together groups of individuals, including, but not limited to, community, civic, public, leisure, faith-based, or sporting events, parades, concerts, festivals, conventions, fundraisers, and similar activities.

City parks and greenways will remain open, but playgrounds, dog parks, basketball courts, tennis courts, picnic shelters, and skate parks shall close. Citizens using these open spaces are directed to adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance on social distancing and hand hygiene, remaining 6 feet apart (CDC.gov).

Individuals experiencing homelessness, who may include individuals in shelters and homeless encampments, shall not be subject to this order but shall be encouraged to follow CDC guidance on social distancing and hand hygiene.

Section 2

All businesses not performing essential services shall close their business facilities, subject to exceptions stated in this Order. Facilities shall remain accessible as needed to service computer and other equipment, process mail, and maintain security.

This closure order includes, but is not limited to:

• On-site activities at hospitality, educational, and entertainment venues, businesses, and facilities are directed to close to the public. On-line activities and deliveries through these businesses may continue.
• Personal appearance businesses, including hair, nail, massage, tattoo, tanning, waxing, and other such facilities are directed to close, except when the service is medically necessary.
• Public and private social clubs are directed to close.
• Car washes and ancillary functions, including but not limited to vacuum stations, are directed to close. Fully automated carwashes may continue to operate.

Nothing in this Order shall prohibit any business possessing applicable licenses or permits from conducting deliveries pursuant to CDC guidance on social distancing.

An individual, entity or organization conducting take-out, window, drive-through or curb-side service pursuant to Amended and Restated Order 1 shall prohibit gatherings inconsistent with CDC guidance on social distancing and gathering sizes. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, gatherings of customers waiting for or having received take-out orders.

Nothing in this order is intended to prohibit individuals from performing business functions of nonessential businesses from their own homes, provided that such business functions comply with existing law and are only performed by residents of that home.

Section 3

This Order does not apply to activities necessary to maintain continuity of operations of critical infrastructure sectors, as outlined at https://www.cisa.gov/identifying-critical-infrastructure-during-covid-19.

As set forth by the United States Department of Homeland Security in the link above the federal government has identified 16 critical infrastructure sectors whose assets, systems and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, economic security, public health or safety, or any combination thereof. Individuals working in these 16 critical infrastructure sectors may continue their work because of the importance of these sectors to the health and well-being of individuals residing or working in Nashville and Davidson County.

Section 4

This Order does not apply to the following sectors and businesses and their employees. These are deemed to be essential services to protect the health and well-being of all individuals residing or working in Nashville and Davidson County.

• Federal and state offices and services, and private companies or individuals performing under federal, state, or local government contracts;
• Essential government functions including, but not limited to, law enforcement, public transportation, and businesses that provide government programs and services, including functions assisting economically disadvantaged populations and individuals experiencing homelessness;
• Companies providing media, communication and telecommunication services;
• Grocery and beverage stores, farmers markets, food banks, caterers, convenience stores selling food, agriculture, food manufacturing and processing, feed mills, and other businesses that directly support the food supply, including but not limited to farming, livestock, and food cultivation;
• Health care, mental and behavioral health, biomedical research, laboratory services, and other businesses that directly support the healthcare industry including, but not limited to, 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, vehicle and bicycle parts and repair businesses, and vehicle and bicycle sales, leasing and rental businesses;
• Banks, savings and loans, insurance companies, accounting businesses, and other financial institutions, and businesses that directly support the insurance and financial services sectors;
• Real property marketing, leasing, purchase, and sale services;
• Moving and relocation 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. Construction sites shall have no more than two people in an elevator at any time and must have sanitation stations available on every floor where work is under way. Social distancing must be observed to the maximum extent possible;
• 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, including research;
• 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 value of the business’s inventory, information systems, accounting, and human resources of any business which is otherwise in substantial compliance with this order;
• Nonprofit entities providing charitable and social services for individuals who are economically disadvantaged or otherwise in need of assistance, including but not limited to entities providing support and assistance to victims of the tornado that struck Nashville on March 3, 2020, and the COVID-19 epidemic; and
• Other businesses and services that may be determined are essential for the continued safety and security of Davidson County.

Section 5

The following businesses may remain open subject to compliance with the following conditions:

• Daycare and childcare businesses. They 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 care and health businesses, and senior residential facilities. They shall follow CDC guidance on social distancing and hand hygiene. Non-essential social and educational programs at senior citizen and other assisted living communities and centers shall be discontinued.
• Hotels, short term rental properties, commercial lodges, and dormitories shall cease entertainment or dine-in services, subject to allowing food and beverage pick-up and room-service.
• Funeral service establishments shall continue to use universal precautions under industry standards for handling human remains. All objects touched by staff or visitors shall be regularly sanitized. All gatherings, whether indoors or outdoors, shall comply with social-distancing requirements and gathering-size limits. Remote video attendance is strongly encouraged. In person viewings of the deceased are allowable. Any part of the casket that has been touched should be sanitized after closure and before being moved.

Section 6

Essential services, especially grocery stores and pharmacies, shall make best efforts to establish hours of operations during which their services are available only to senior citizens or otherwise vulnerable populations. Grocery stores and other retail establishments shall limit customer occupancy to no more than the number of people who can engage in social-distancing protocols at one time.

Essential services shall continue to adhere to CDC guidance on social distancing and hand hygiene at all times, including encouraging work-from-home and allowing employees when possible to work on-site in shifts to optimize social distancing in the workplace.

Essential services are encouraged to utilize, to the maximum extent possible, any telecommuting or work-from-home procedures they can safely utilize.

Section 7

Metro Government will use all available enforcement options to assure compliance with this Order, including but not limited to violations of social-distancing requirements or gathering-size limits.

If any provision, sentence, clause, phrase, or word, of this Order or any application of it to any individual, business, or circumstance is held to be invalid by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, then such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of this Order.

This Amended and Restated Order shall be effective at 12:01 AM CDT on April 2, 2020, and shall remain in effect through 11:59 PM CDT on April 24, 2020, subject to extension.

Date: April 1, 2020