The Knox County Board of Health voted Wednesday night to close bars in the county to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The closure starts at 12:01 a.m. Monday, and the board will reconsider the measure Aug. 19.
Board member Dr. Maria Hurt introduced the resolution in an attempt to slow a virus that is surging in the community. She said it's a step that will protect potential future patients and also health care workers who put themselves in harm's way.
"Our job ... is to try to stop the virus from getting and maintaining the upper hand," she said, likening Knox County's growing case numbers to an impending train wreck.
For the purposes of the regulation, a bar is a business that generates 50% or more of its revenue from alcohol. Businesses that offer limited restaurant services can continue to sell to-go alcohol.
Dr. James Shamiyeh said masks have helped but haven't fully turned things around - and the recent summertime surge happened without university students in town and while younger students weren't gathered in schools. He argued that the community should do what it can now to make sure the University of Tennessee can open as planned in mid-August.
"The concern I would present is that it's time to do something else," he said.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, a board member, argued that if bars are shut down, students and other adults will simply end up partying in private spaces. He said he supported the spirit of what board members were trying to do but fought against closing the bars.
He was the lone vote against the measure, citing concerns that it could open up the county to lawsuits.
In the past week, 1,018 residents of Knox County tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total cases to 3,533. This means that almost one third of all cases that have ever been detected were detected over the past week. It is the largest weekly increase so far during the pandemic.
In the past month, 22 people have died of COVID-19, bringing the total to 27. This means that within the past month Knox County has seen a 440% increase in the number of deaths when compared to the rest of the pandemic.
"The trend has not started to go back down or even level off. So we are concerned about that, absolutely," Charity Menefee, director of emergency preparedness for the Knox County Health Department, said at a press briefing Wednesday.
Recommendation follows White House advice
Dr. Deborah Birx, one of the White House's top coronavirus advisers, visited Nashville on Monday to urge Tennessee to close its bars and limit indoor restaurant dining to prevent a disastrous escalation of the state's spiking coronavirus outbreak.
Birx said she traveled to Tennessee because the state teeters on a precipice from which other Southern states had already fallen: The virus has spread among young people who aren't showing symptoms into rural areas, and it now threatens to escalate to new levels of infection the state has not seen.
Moments later at the same press conference, Gov. Bill Lee said he had no plans to follow Birx's recommendation. Lee said he would not temporarily close bars or limit restaurants or give county mayors the authority to take these actions locally.
Lee maintains authority over the health departments in 89 of the state’s 95 counties, and only mayors in a few metropolitan areas have the power to shutter businesses without his support. Knox County is among the six counties allowed to make its own rules, and its authority overrides that of Knoxville city officials.
Knoxville mayor supports the measure
This week, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon urged the board to close the bars, limit indoor dining and restrict gatherings to 25 people or less, as recommended by Birx.
After the vote on closing bars was enacted Wednesday, she released a statement: "Tonight’s actions are a step in the right direction. It’s important to remember that it’s the pandemic that is hurting our economy, not our efforts to curb it.”
Mask mandates show signs of success
Recent case numbers are showing that mask mandates are making a difference locally, according to a report from UT Medical Center. When the counties in the region, including Knox County and "red zone" Sevier County, are analyzed together, charts show that coronavirus cases might be beginning to at least to stop accelerating out of control.
But flattening the curve doesn't mean things are getting better, emphasized Dr. James Shamiyeh. It just means things are not getting worse.
"It did something," he said of the mask mandate. "My encouragement to everyone is to keep it up."
Complaints since masks were mandated
The county has received 444 complaints about face masks since July 4, but the complaints have declined week-over-week as residents get used to the mandate, reported Ronnie Nease, the county's environmental health division director.
The city has received 140 complaints, mostly about retail establishments, related to a lack of social distancing and masks, Knoxville Deputy Mayor David Brace said. He held open the possibility of bringing complaints to the board so members can consider issuing citations.
Moving to allow public input
At the beginning of Wednesday's virtual Board of Health meeting, Jacobs moved to postpone the meeting for one week and hold it in person instead of video conferencing. The meeting, Jacobs said, should be held in the large assembly room at the City-County Building, where City Council and County Commission meetings take place.
"In the spirit of democracy and transparency, I move that this meeting be postponed," Jacobs said, reading from a prepared statement.
The Board of Health is an unelected body of medical professionals that, thanks to Gov. Bill Lee's executive orders, has the sole authority to adjust coronavirus restrictions in Knox County. Lee's orders also allow the board to hold meetings virtually instead of in person.
As a result, Jacobs argued, the board has more power than some elected bodies yet allows "no recourse to taxpayers" and is "virtually unaccountable for its actions."
Residents are allowed to speak during the public forum portions of City Council and County Commission meetings, Jacobs said, but that isn't currently possible at virtual health board meetings.
Health board member Dr. Patrick O'Brien said the board has received hundreds of emails from members of the public, and that he's read through them, fielded calls and had conversations with people in person. Hurt said similarly said she's read emails, fielded calls and had packets mailed to her home.
That's not good enough, Jacobs said, adding that those who don't have internet access can't stream meetings held via video.
"I do believe that it's imperative, and I understand that science is driving this, but I do believe that it is imperative to give the public at least the opportunity to provide feedback in person," he said.
Shamiyeh and O'Brien said the board couldn't afford to postpone a meeting for one week when it has the responsibility to protect public health. Knox County Health Department Director Dr. Martha Buchanan said she doesn't believe people could social distance well enough inside the assembly room, and later noted that Lee's orders limit public gatherings to 50 people.
Multiple board members said it doesn't make sense for the board of health to bring people together when it is trying to keep them apart to slow the spread of the virus.
Ultimately, a compromise was reached in which Jacobs introduced a motion that the next meeting be held virtually via Zoom, so long as the county provides a place where residents can appear before a camera to speak to the board remotely.
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