NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Despite new CDC guidance allowing fully vaccinated people to go without masks while indoors, the Metro Nashville Public Health Department announced its indoor mask requirement will remain in place.
Metro Public Health Department Director of Communications released the following statement Thursday afternoon.
“The Metro Public Health Department is encouraged by the recently updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, further emphasizing the importance of widespread COVID-19 vaccination. We look forward to a time when more of our county’s population is vaccinated, allowing mask requirements to safely be dropped altogether in public settings. With less than half of Davidson County residents vaccinated, and Tennessee lagging the national average among people that are fully vaccinated, dropping of mask requirements at this time in high-risk settings is not feasible. In addition, we are just now vaccinating our 12-15 year-olds and this will give them time to become vaccinated. As we continue to reopen over the next few weeks the need for masks indoors will continue to be evaluated, but at this time the mask mandate will remain in place.”
Most of Nashville and Davidson County’s COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted Friday, allowing full capacity inside businesses and at event venues.
Tennessee does not now, nor has ever had a mask mandate, prompting no change on a state level. But in Kentucky, Governor Andy Beshear says Kentucky will change its mask mandate to reflect the latest guidance from the CDC that eases indoor mask-wearing for fully vaccinated people, according to LEX18 News.
