Nashville Continues Operating in Phase Two After Spike in New COVID-19 Cases

In the morning press conference on Monday, June 15, Mayor John Cooper announced that Davidson County will remain in Phase 2 of reopening for a bit longer. In the second phase, restaurants and retail stores operate at 75% capacity. Live music will be allowed with proper social distancing enforced — such as no more than two performers at one time and dance floors remaining closed.

There are currently 7173 confirmed cases, with an increase of 300 in the last 24 hours. At this point, 80 people have died in Davidson County from COVID-19. Metro Coronavirus Task Force’s Dr. Alex Jahangir said there was a lab delay, which explains the rise in numbers yesterday. Even with that, there is still a higher 14-day average count.

President and CEO of Meharry Medical College Dr. James Hildreth cited Memorial Day weekend gatherings, rallies, and marches across the city all as reasons for the jump in cases. He emphasized that if guests walk into a business and proper safety measures are not being taken, they should absolutely feel comfortable turning around and walking back out.

Jahangir did say that the city is close to entering phase 3. “This pumping of the brakes will allow us to be better prepared as we get ready to enter phase three. This pause will help us to move forward at the right time, and not backwards as they’ve had to do in so other cities across the country,” says Jahangir.

He added that there are new additional resources, and more targeted testing in Southeast Nashville, where there is a concentrated cluster of cases.

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