Tennessee’s Economic Recovery Group Issues Updated Guidance for Businesses Under Tennessee Pledge

Nashville, Tenn. – In accordance with the current scientific understanding of COVID-19, Tennessee’s Economic Recovery Group issued updated guidance today for businesses and other activities under the Tennessee Pledge. The updates follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and maintain emphasis on key preventative measures such as mask wearing, social distancing and frequent disinfection. The update follows executive orders signed by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee earlier this week.

“Our businesses have gone to great lengths to put in place strong measures to protect their employees, customers, and communities,” said Gov. Lee. “The updated Tennessee Pledge enables businesses to better sustain best practices with foundational pieces that help lead to healthy communities and open businesses.”

The updated and streamlined guidance aligns with recent amendments to state-issued Executive Orders and enable Tennessee businesses to operate with more flexibility where social distancing protocols remain in place. Full guidelines can be found at TNpledge.com, and include such updates as:

• Rather than recommending strict capacity limitations for attractions and entertainment, guidelines focus on case-by-case flexibility and provide examples for incorporating social distancing.
• Focusing on preventing COVID-19 transmission from close physical contact rather than surface transmission, though regular disinfection and hand hygiene remain important. For example, retail establishments may resume use of reusable bags. 
• Hotels may resume valet and reopen unstaffed gyms.
• Removing the recommendation to close playgrounds, provided that social distancing is followed to the extent possible.

The Economic Recovery Group (ERG), composed of 30 leaders from the public and private sector along with health experts, established the Tennessee Pledge to assist businesses in a safe reopening. The industry representatives participating in the ERG collectively represent over 140,000 Tennessee businesses that employ over 2.5M Tennesseans. More information about ERG is available here.