To combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced sweeping changes Sunday, including closing bars throughout Davidson County and severely limiting restaurant capacity.

While Cooper made the announcement in a news release Sunday afternoon, the move gives Metro health officials broad latitude to take additional action in the weeks ahead.

Within hours, the Metro Board of Health convened for an emergency meeting and unanimously approved the mayor's recommendations while officially declaring a public health emergency.

After the panel's approval, Cooper said, "All this is to get us back to normal as soon as possible.”

The city's move, which was praised by some but rejected by at least one prominent area businessman, includes:

closing bars throughout Davidson County, including in the tourist-heavy Lower Broadway area;

limiting restaurant seating to less than 50% of capacity, with no more than 100 individuals allowed in a given establishment; and

limiting bar service at restaurants to 50% capacity with no standing allowed.

The public health emergency declaration also gives wide latitude to Metro health officials to take future actions.

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Alex Jahangir, chair of the Board of Health, said the decision was not done lightly but was necessary in order to move forward.

“We are taking these actions to ensure the health of every person in our county and every visitor to our city," he said. "We must come together to take care of one another."

As of Sunday, Tennessee had 39 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 17 in Davidson County, according to the state Department of Health.

The announcement came after tourists and locals continued to flock to Lower Broadway throughout the weekend. The move also comes after the cancellation of several high-profile events, including more than 100 meetings and conferences as well as the SEC men's basketball tournament. The cancellations have resulted in losses that total in the tens of millions of dollars in depleted revenue to hotels, restaurants and other businesses.

And Nashville's latest actions will all but exacerbate concerns officials have over the impact the coronavirus will have on state revenue projections.

Health officials to work with police on enforcement

The Metro Board of Health approved the proposal, which is expected to take effect immediately.

Michael Caldwell, the city's director of health, said after Sunday's meeting he would quickly work with Metro police on enforcement.

“As soon as this is passed, we’re going to make sure we can enact an enforcement policy,” Caldwell said minutes before the board's approval of the plan.

Such enforcement could quickly be challenged by Steve Smith, who owns several popular downtown honky-tonks, including Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. Smith said he would refuse to comply with the directive.

"Unless there’s a statewide mandate that directs all bars and restaurants to be closed, the request made by Mayor Cooper is unconstitutional as he is targeting a select group of businesses," Smith said in a statement.

Cooper, however, said the first phase of implementing the changes will be informing residents.

"Information is the first part of this," he said, later clarifying that could take 24 to 48 hours.

A spokeswoman for Cooper later said he spoke with the governor's staff about the proposal Sunday.

Cooper's sweeping changes are similar to actions taken in other cities throughout the country in recent days.

And while such closures will have an immediate economic impact on the city, Cooper's announcement was quickly met with support ranging from members of the business community to elected officials.

“We are in full support of the decision of the Mayor and Metro Nashville Board of Health regarding bars and restaurants," Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp., said in a statement. "Any short-term mitigation to slow the spread of this virus is invaluable to our long-term recovery and more importantly the health and safety of our community."

Ralph Schulz, president and CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, praised Cooper, saying the current circumstances require "extraordinary actions."

Similarly, state Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, applauded Cooper and Metro officials for "taking this step."

"With emergency declarations on the state and federal level, resources will hopefully be available to assist businesses and workers who suffer economic hardship," Dickerson said.

Former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., expressed his support for Cooper on Twitter, saying the steps are needed for the "health and safety" of the city.

Cooper defended his decision, saying the short-term actions would help the city return to normal in an expedient manner.

"We understand these changes create a hardship, especially for businesses and their employees, and we hope it will be short lived," he said in a statement.

The mayor vowed to gather information from state and federal officials on providing aide for businesses and employees.

Lower Broad had remained busy

Just an hour after Cooper had announced the city would take action, the main drag in downtown Nashville remained busy Sunday afternoon with patrons hopping from one honky-tonk to the next – unaware that officials were voting shortly to close down Lower Broadway.

Popular "transpotainment" services were still in action, including pedal taverns and tractor-pulled party buses.

Emma Martensen, Haylee Hess and Amalia Jaeck, three University of Wisconsin-Madison students, told The Tennessean they had come in town to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Though aware of growing health concerns, the three said they already had paid for their accommodations and thought it was worth the trip if they drove.

They said they wouldn’t be upset if bars closed Sunday because they partied hard on Lower Broadway the night before. They were walking around downtown when they realized museums were closed.

“We’ve been thinking about it and talking about it,” Martensen said. “Yesterday at the bar we realized, ‘Yo, this is probably not a good idea.’ But we haven’t changed our actions. We’re still here.”

With classes and internships canceled, they plan to stay in Nashville until Wednesday.

Erin and John Black, visiting from Bowling Green, Ohio, were a rare two who were aware that bars might be closing because a friend had texted them the news.

“We're going to Honky Tonk for a little bit longer and our only mission is to make it to Martin's before they have to close,” John Black said.

The two work in the healthcare industry and acknowledge that it’s an assumed risk to be on Lower Broadway.

Erin Black said she’s been carrying hand sanitizer, frequently washing hands and covering her mouth while at the bars. They’ve seen patrons being respectful, and picking up on nonverbal cues from those who don’t want to get close or engage in conversation.

“You have a responsibility that if you're going to come down and interact with other people, you have to be aware that when you leave here and you got to take some precautions not to jeopardize other people's safety,” said John Black, who works at Cleveland Clinic.

With four kids at home and classes canceled, the Blacks said when they get home, they will monitor themselves and self-quarantine if they show symptoms.

Yihyun Jeong contributed to this report.

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Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.