Capacity for indoor dining will increase to 50%, with other businesses also able to do less COVID-19 restrictions.
,
Susan Selasky
,
Kristen Jordan Shamus
| Detroit Free Press
Restaurants could accept twice as many indoor eateries, shops and businesses could also allow more customers, and private gatherings could involve more people under a new health ordinance imposed on Friday.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will announce the changes at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The withdrawal of a number of COVID-19 regulations by Whitmer and the State Department of Health is consistent with the improvement of pandemic trends in the state. But this seems to contradict the advice of national experts, who – like the state – note that virus variants can lead to more outbreaks despite increased vaccination efforts.
“As we continue to roll out vaccines and make steady progress against the virus, we are taking additional increasing steps to re-engage to ensure we protect our family and frontline workers and save lives,” Whitmer said in a statement. said.
“Michigan is a national leader in the fight against COVID-19, and our fact-based, data-driven approach will help our state rebuild our economy and resume normal daily activities … We all have a personal responsibility to slow down. the spread of the virus so that we can end this pandemic together. ‘
More: Macomb County restaurants sue Whitmer, other officials over closures
More: Michigan restaurants may reopen limited-capacity indoor eateries, with evening clock on Feb. 1
The state specifically pointed to three improved measures: COVID-19 case rates, test positivity rates, and hospital capacity.
In Michigan, the rate is currently about 91.2 cases per million. This is comparable to the rate at the beginning of October. But there is also information indicating that this number may rise soon.
Across the country, the seven-day average in daily cases rose to 1,107 on Monday, compared with a seven-day average of 845 new daily cases on February 22, according to state data.
The test positivity rate is at 3.7%, which is higher than the previous week’s rate of 3.5%. However, according to the state, it is comparable to the rate in Michigan at the beginning of October.
The percentage of hospital beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients is at 3.9%, below a high of 19.6% on December 4th. Hospitalizations in Michigan have been high since Feb. 19.
The repayments address a variety of industries and there is a call for less restrictions on the business community to facilitate mandates.
These include:
- Restaurants and bars can have 50% indoor dining, up to 100 people. Tables should still be six feet apart, with a maximum of six people at the table. There is still a curfew rule for indoor dining, but this order knocks it back from 10pm to 11pm
- Retail stores may operate within 50% of indoor capacity, compared to 30%.
- Indoor private residential gatherings are limited to 15 people from three separate households. Outside residential gatherings can have up to 50 people.
- Indoor gatherings involving people from different households may have up to 25 people. This probably means that public events, such as city council meetings, and small public gatherings can legally resume in person.
- Outdoor events can be resumed with up to 300 people.
- Venues such as movie theaters, bowling alleys and other entertainment providers can also increase indoor capacity to 50%, up to 300 people.
- Athletics stadiums and arenas with 10,000 people or fewer seats can accommodate up to 375 participants. If the seat is more than 10,000, they can have 750 people.
- Casinos are allowed to operate within 30% of indoor capacity.
- Gyms may work 30%, but exercise machines must be at least six feet apart.
More: Johnson & Johnson increases COVID-19 vaccine supply in Michigan to nearly 500,000 doses this week
More: Restrictions on Michigan eateries have been quietly expanded – and some restaurant owners have missed them
The order takes effect Friday and runs until April 19, indicating that additional changes could have been made at that time.
Republican critics, business associations and others have been blasting the governor for months for not having a specific red line when it comes to COVID-19 trends and reducing capacity constraints.
Restaurants faced two exclusions for indoor dining in 2020. The second closing took place on November 18 before the lucrative holiday season. The Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association (MRLA) fails to request a temporary order for indoor eateries to stay open.
More than a dozen organizations in Michigan’s chambers of commerce have sent a March 1 letter to governments Gretchen Whitmer urging a “reopening” of restaurants, Bridge Magazine reported. The letter says that the restaurant industry has been affected more than others and that it still ‘faces obstacles to keep working’.
On February 1, the indoor dining room can be resumed with a capacity of 25% and an evening clock walk at 22:00. The order took three weeks, but was extended until March 29. While many restaurant owners were very happy about the limited capacity, other indoor eateries closed.
Advocates for the hospitality industry have suggested guidelines that make it possible to increase or decrease indoor dining capacity based on the percentages of coronavirus positivity.
In mid-February, the MRLA announced a plan to bring back ‘normal operations’ in the hospitality industry that had been so badly affected by the pandemic. The MRLA suggested that the reopening of restaurants and bars would change based on the percentage of daily positive COVID-19 tests.
Nationwide, the restaurant industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. According to Michigan, according to the MRLA, 3,000 restaurants have closed permanently and job losses are 200,000 due to the pandemic.
Whitmer’s announcement that COVID-19 restrictions will be mitigated is contrary to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on Monday that she was “deeply concerned” about the possibility of a shift in the trajectory of the pandemic. .
Although cases and hospitalizations have dropped significantly since their January peak, there has been a slight increase in the past week – nationally as well as in Michigan.
“The most recent seven-day average – about 67,200 – represents an increase of just over 2% compared to the previous seven days,” Walensky said. “Similarly, the most recent average of seven days of deaths also increased by more than 2% from the previous seven days to almost 2000 deaths per day.
“With these new statistics, I’m very concerned about reports that more states are reproducing the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19.”
Although she said she understood the temptation to ease restrictions, she argued that the rate was still far too high and that fewer rules could increase it.
“Please hear me clearly: at this level of business, with variants spreading, we could completely lose the hard-earned field we won,” Walensky said.
“These variants are a very serious threat to our people and our progress. This is not the time to spread the critical guarantees we know by slowing down the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not if we are so close. is not.”
Michigan has the second highest number of cases nationally of the B.1.1.7 variant with 422 confirmed cases, state health officials said, behind only Florida.
Contact Dave Boucher at [email protected] or 313-938-4591. Follow him on Twitter @ Dave_Boucher1.