Nashville Extends Bar, Restaurant Hours Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Metro Nashville will allow bars and restaurants to extend their hours of operation next week following a positive trend in COVID-19 cases within Davidson County.

Bars and restaurants will now be allowed to operate for one additional hour beginning on February 1, Mayor John Cooper announced during a press conference Thursday (January 28) via FOX 17 News.

Bars and restaurants will now be allowed to host new patrons up to 11:00 p.m., rather than 10:00 p.m. and close businesses at midnight, instead of 11:00 p.m., as previously mandated by the city's COVID-19 reopening plan.

Additionally, restaurants that do not serve or permit alcohol will be allowed to resume 24-hour operations, Mayor Cooper confirmed.

Bars and restaurants will continue to adhere to social distancing and capacity rules as the city continues to follow its COVID-19 reopening plan. Metro Nashville is reporting satisfactory COVID-19 numbers in transmission rate, 14-day new case trend, testing capacity and public health capacity, one month after the state of Tennessee was reported to have ranked No. 1 in terms of coronavirus transmission.

On Thursday, the Metro Public Health Department reported 83,768 total cases of COVID-19 in Davidson County, which includes 541 new cases in a 24-hour span and 4,774 active cases. A total of 571 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported in Davidson County during the pandemic.

Photo: Getty Images