Health Directive 18 has been issued by the Shelby County Health Department, and restaurateurs will find relief as restrictions are relaxed when it goes in effect at 12:01 a.m. Feb. 20.

They say they welcome any relief they can get after being limited by the pandemic restrictions to 25% occupancy through the holidays and 50% under the last directive. And most places closed this week because of the winter storm.

The new directive has no occupancy restriction, though tables have to be spaced so that diners are 6 feet away from people at adjacent tables.

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“Anything helps,” said Ryan Trimm, a partner in Across the Board Restaurant Group, which owns Sweet Grass, 117 Prime and Sunrise. “The occupancy won’t do as much for me at Sweet Grass and Prime, but it will help us at Sunrise.

“It’s also a big help that the Health Department is doing this, because it sends the message to the public that numbers are going down and things are getting safer. It makes people feel better about coming out.”

According to a release sent with the directive, the coronavirus reproductive rate in Shelby County is 0.8, the lowest since the start of the pandemic; case numbers have been on the decline since early January; and weekly positive test rates for COVID-19 are the lowest they’ve been since October.

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Besides the occupancy change, the new directive differs from Health Directive 17 in the following primary ways:

Customers may once again sit at bar tops to dine, though they’re limited to two people in a group and there must be 6 feet between groups. No one can stand at a bar or order at a bar unless they’re seated there. Bartenders and servers working at the bar must wear a face shield as well as a mask.

Restaurants may stay open until midnight. The current curfew is 10 p.m.

“Midnight helps,” Trimm said. “It helps a lot at (117) Prime, because right now we can’t take a reservation past 8:30 or so since we have to close at 10 p.m.

“At Sweet Grass, it’s not as big of a deal, but it will at least save us that conversation at the end of the night when we have to tell people they have to leave. That’s always uncomfortable.”

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James Taras, co-owner of Jim’s Place Grill in Collierville, said this provides significant relief for him.

“People have been chomping at the bit to get back around the bar,” he said. “Our bar is a great place for couples to sit for dinner and they’re ready to get back to it.”

And losing the 50% restriction is good for him.

“People, particularly in the suburbs, want to get out. We have a lot of square footage, so without that restriction we’ll be able to fit quite a few more in and keep safe distance.”

Also new in this directive, hookah and vape bars have to operate under the same rules as restaurants, though the directive says “businesses should prohibit indoor smoking or vaping due to the risk of airborne transmission of the virus. Any indoor smoking that is allowed must comply with Tennessee law on age, time, and place requirements.”

Customers must still be seated when dining or drinking; meals are limited to two hours; alcohol cannot be consumed without food; masks must be worn when walking in the restaurant or when seated but not eating or drinking; and tables are still restricted to six.

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That’s something that Trimm, along with Ben Brock, owner of Amerigo and Char, and Taras would like to see increased to eight.

“People like to come to dinner in groups out here,” Taras said. “Having eight people at a table would help us a lot. I actually get a lot of people who call for eight and then they get mad at me when I have to give them two four-tops.”

Nick Scott owns Alchemy in Cooper-Young and the soon-to-open Salt|Soy on Broad.

He has tables around his bar at Alchemy now and thinks he’ll keep them instead of going back to bar seating.

“I can get more people around the bar that way, so I’m pretty sure I won’t change that,” he said. “But this means when we open Salt|Soy, we can have bar service from the beginning.”

Both places are large.

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“We’ll definitely be able to get more people in. We’re a big spot, so we have some room so we can keep safe distance,” he said.

“If the people are ready to come, we can accommodate them.”