Hayley Williams asks tourists to stay away from Nashville as coronavirus cases rise: 'Our people are dying'
Paramore's Hayley Williams made a plea for people to stop visiting Nashville amid the coronavirus pandemic. As COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the Tennessee city, the singer called out public officials who are letting “tourists crawl all over” downtown’s infamous Lower Broadway section “drunk and hanging out the sides of party buses.”
“What I’m about to post, I think, should be required viewing for anyone who plans on making a selfish, quick getaway to Nashville, Tennessee in the middle of a f****** global pandemic,” Williams said in a series of videos posted to her Instagram Story on Monday. “The numbers are skyrocketing pretty much everywhere. Nashville is no different.”
The Metro Department of Public Health reported on Tuesday 109 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nashville’s Davidson County in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 21,879 confirmed cases.
“Our people are dying, our local businesses are suffering,” the 31-year-old singer-songwriter continued. “So many businesses that make our town special and made it enticing in the first place. Tourists, people from out of town, are coming in and crawling up and down Lower Broadway taking shots to terrible music. I just don’t understand what the governor or the mayor are doing.”
On July 21, Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced a new public health order that required restaurants to close by 10 p.m. in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. However, people are still flocking to the city, which is a popular destination for bachelor and bachelorette parties. Over the weekend, hundreds attended a large house party in East Nashville, which the mayor’s office said it’s investigating.
“Please don’t come to Nashville. Plan your bachelorette party somewhere else this time,” Williams added. “If you plan on or you’re thinking about planning on coming to Nashville, don’t. It’s not the time.”
Williams shared a video of a press conference held by Nashville’s small bar owners who said their establishments are in danger of closing for good.
“Our governor, our mayor, local officials will not listen, in fact, they arrest peaceful protesters who are masked, but they let tourists crawl over Lower Broadway drunk and hanging out the sides of party buses,” Williams concluded. “Like, that’s not even Nashville. If you really believe in Nashville, don’t come here until this s*** is handled.”
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.
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