NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville Mayor John Cooper has announced that bars will be closed through July, and some (but not all) 'transpotainment' vehicles, such as pedal carriages, will be shut down as well.
This change was announced as an amendment to Public Health Order 9, and was the declaration of the public health emergency declared back in March.
The order says that bars currently closed must remained closed through the rest of July, but they can continue to provide curbside or delivery service.
Additionally pedicabs, pedal carriages, and limousines must close.
“Two days ago we were considered safe by the health department,” said Carney.
Carney runs Off the Wagon party tours and says he’s not sure what changed in the past few days to warrant an amendment. He’s had weekly calls with Metro Public Health and the mayor’s office, even though he’s currently not regulated by them.
“It’s a communication thing. Everybody wants to jump on something instead of communicating well how can we make this work for everybody,” said Carney.
On MorningLine, shortly before the announcement was made, Mayor Cooper gave a brief reason for why the change was necessary.
“Ultimately contact tracing does show that sharing your air has led to a big increase in cases. So we have to avoid close contact settings,” said Cooper.
Curtis says he would understand if most of these businesses weren’t already operating beyond the safety standards required of them. They’ve already limited rides to 20 people or less, there’s also no mixing of groups and they limit stops along the route.
“There are many responsible operators who have done a good job and not having an outbreak there and it is a pity they have to be lumped in with the category, but they do,” said Cooper.
The lack of regulation across the board means you can still expect to see party buses until the state decides to pump the brakes.
Mayor Cooper says he’s working to get cooperation from governor Bill Lee’s office on how to regulate the rest of the transpotainment industry not involved in this amendment.
We contacted the governor’s office and they say it’s too early to comment on those conversations with the city.
Carney says he’s not opposed to regulation because he’s seen other companies not follow what he would consider safe guidelines.
“That is the type of thing that we want to regulate because those will eventually hurt everybody,” said Carney.
For Carney it goes back to the question, what will Nashville look like if there are no tourists?
“A lot of them have canceled, but the ones that are here, do we want to ruin that little experience that they have,” said Carney.
