Mayor: Restaurants serving alcohol will need to close at 10 p.m.

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    NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) — The mayor has announced that restaurants and businesses that serve alcohol will have to shut down at 10 p.m.

This public health order will go into effect on Friday.

Mayor John Cooper said it is in the best interest of bar owners to have patrons wear masks. But, he made it clear that full cooperation is needed from everyone including patrons.

“A city that can’t open schools smoothly – is a city that can’t be back to normal. Parents of more than 100,000 children and the children themselves need Nashville to break the spread of the disease and we must use the tools we have to get that done,” Cooper said. “If we have to tell 100,000 kids to stay home, we can tell businesses to close early.”

Cooper added take-out orders are drive through are still allowed, even if that is after 10 p.m.

“Clearly more most be done to prevent individuals – particularly those who are not invested in the long-term safety of community or the success of our local economy from violating out public health orders and putting our entire city at risk,” Cooper said.

Nashville has a mandatory mask order. Metro Police began enforcing it with uniformed officers last week. Police have issued more than 5,200 verbal warnings since then. But, they have written no citations.

Cooper on Tuesday addressed why there have been no citations. He said the city is trying to encourage the public and it’s not up to the police to catch people.

The mayor encouraged business owners to go out and tell people to wear masks. He added that they should go out and do what you can to lower the spread of the disease.

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