NASHVILLE, TN — Mayor John Cooper Monday joined Dr. Alex Jahangir, Director of the Coronavirus Response Taskforce, Dr. Michael Caldwell, Director of Health, Collin Reed, Chairman and CEO, Ryman Hospitality Partners, and representatives from Nashville’s 
leading hospitals to provide an update on COVID-19 in Nashville. The update follows the Board of Health’s public health emergency declaration from Sunday, which calls for new measures from Nashville’s restaurants and bars to protect the community from the growing threat of coronavirus.
Mayor Cooper thanked the Nashville businesses that are voluntarily following the guidelines for social distancing outlined in the public health emergency declaration.
“A coordinated response is the only appropriate response, to get us back to normal sooner,” Mayor Cooper said. “We are making public health decisions with the safety and well-being of every member of the community in mind – from cooks to customers alike.”
Dr. Jahangir announced plans for an information hotline for citizens to access more information about COVID-19, as well as plans for opening assessment centers in the community. According to Dr. Jahangir, the assessment centers will not replace the role of our community’s physicians and hospitals but will supplement their services. The hotline and the assessment centers will be activated in the coming days.
“The collective actions of setting up assessment centers and a community hotline are efforts to limit the spread and impact of the virus and flatten the curve of growth of the virus in Nashville,” Dr. Jahangir said. “Assessment is vital, and it is important to get that message out.”
Dr. Caldwell gave an update on the COVID-19 cases in Nashville and provided an overview of the public health emergency declaration.
According to Dr. Caldwell, there are a total number of 25 confirmed cases of coronavirus COVID-19 in Nashville/Davidson County, including eight confirmed cases in the past 24 hours. The age range for all confirmed cases remains from 11-73 years old. One person with a confirmed case remains hospitalized. All others are self-isolating at home with mild and manageable symptoms.
“Yesterday the Board of Health took a major step in our community’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak by passing an emergency declaration that enables our department to help reduce the impact of the virus by limiting people’s exposure,” Dr. Caldwell said. “The declaration is in line with guidance from CDC, and mirrors the decisive action taken by other cities and states.”
