[ad_1]
Indoor catering capacity will increase to 50%, with other businesses also allowed to operate with fewer COVID-19 restrictions.
,
Susan selasky
,
Kristen jordan shamus
| Detroit Free Press
Restaurants can accept twice as many dinners indoors, stores and businesses can also allow more customers, and private gatherings can involve more people under a new health ordinance scheduled for Friday.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer will announce the changes at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
The rollback of a litany of COVID-19 regulations by Whitmer and the state’s health department matches improving pandemic trends in the state. But that seems to contradict at least some advice from national experts, who – like the state – note that variants of the virus may 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, additional steps to re-engage to ensure we protect our families and frontline workers and save lives,” Whitmer said in a statement.
“Michigan is a national leader in the fight against COVID-19, and our evidence-based, data-driven approach will help our state rebuild our economy and return to normal day-to-day operations … We all have personal responsibility. to slow the spread of the virus so that we can end this pandemic together. ”
After: Macomb County restaurants take legal action against Whitmer and other closures officials
After: Michigan restaurants may reopen indoor dining with limited capacity, curfew Feb. 1
The state specifically points to three improving benchmarks: rates of COVID-19 cases, test positivity rates and hospital capacity.
In Michigan, the case rate is currently around 91.2 cases per million. This is comparable to the rate at the beginning of October. But there is also data indicating that this number may increase soon.
Statewide, the seven-day average of daily cases rose to 1,107 on Monday, from a seven-day average of 845 new daily cases on February 22, according to state data.
The test’s positivity rate is 3.7%, which is up from the 3.5% rate last week. But that’s comparable to Michigan’s rate at the start of October, according to the state.
The percentage of hospital beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients is 3.9%, down from its peak of 19.6% on December 4. Michigan hospitalizations have leveled off since February 19.
The flashbacks span a range of industries and come as calls for fewer restrictions have been launched by the business community to facilitate mandates.
They include:
- Restaurants and bars can have 50% indoor catering capacity, up to 100 people. Tables should always be six feet apart, with a maximum of six people at a table. A curfew on indoor meals is still in effect, but this order pushes it back from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.
- Retail stores are allowed to operate at 50% of their indoor capacity, compared to 30%.
- Indoor private residential gatherings are capped at 15 people from three separate households. Outdoor residential gatherings can accommodate up to 50 people.
- Indoor gatherings involving people from different households are allowed to accommodate up to 25 people. This likely means that public events, like city council meetings, and small public gatherings can legally resume in person.
- Outdoor gatherings can resume with up to 300 people.
- Places like cinemas, bowling alleys and other entertainment providers can also increase indoor capacity to 50%, up to 300 people.
- Athletics stadiums and arenas that can accommodate 10,000 people or less can accommodate up to 375 participants. If the capacity is greater than 10,000, they can accommodate 750 people.
- Casinos are allowed to operate at 30% of their indoor capacity.
- Gyms are allowed to operate at 30% of their capacity, but workout machines must stay at least six feet apart.
After: Johnson & Johnson Increases Michigan’s COVID-19 Vaccine Supply To Nearly 500,000 Doses This Week
After: Michigan’s restaurant restrictions have been quietly extended – and some restaurateurs have missed it
The order is expected to go into effect on Friday and end on April 19, indicating that further changes may be made at that time.
For months, Republican critics, business associations and others criticized the governor for not having a specific red line when it comes to COVID-19 trends and easing capacity restrictions.
Restaurants faced two indoor restaurant closures in 2020. The second closure came on November 18, ahead of the lucrative holiday season. The Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association (MRLA) was unsuccessful in seeking a temporary injunction to keep meals inside open.
More than a dozen Michigan Chamber of Commerce organizations sent a March 1 letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer calling for a “gradual reopening” of restaurants, Bridge Magazine reported. The letter said the restaurant industry has been hit harder than others and continues to “face hurdles in staying in business”.
On February 1, indoor dining could resume at 25% capacity and a 10 p.m. curfew. The order was in place for three weeks, but was extended until March 29. While many restaurateurs were happy to be open to this limited capacity, others have closed the restaurants inside.
Hospitality industry advocates have proposed guidelines that would allow indoor catering capacity to rise or fall based on coronavirus positivity rate percentages.
In mid-February, the MRLA released a plan to bring “normal operations” back to the hospitality industry so hard hit by the pandemic. The MRLA has proposed that the reopening of restaurants and bars change based on the percentage of positive daily COVID-19 tests.
Across the country, the restaurant industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. In Michigan, according to the MRLA, its industry has seen 3,000 restaurants permanently closed and job losses total 200,000 due to the pandemic.
Whitmer’s announcement to ease COVID-19 restrictions flies in the face of advice from Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who on Monday said she was “deeply concerned By the potential for a change in the trajectory of the pandemic. .
Although cases and hospitalizations have declined significantly since their peak in January, there was a slight increase last week – both nationally and in Michigan.
“The seven-day average of the most recent cases – around 67,200 – represents an increase of just over 2% from the previous seven days,” Walensky said. Likewise, the most recent seven-day average of deaths also increased by more than 2% from the previous seven days to almost 2,000 deaths per day.
“With these new statistics, I am really concerned about reports that more and more states are reversing the exact public health measures we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19.”
Although she said she understands the temptation to relax restrictions, she argued case rates are still far too high and fewer rules would allow them to rise.
“Please listen to me clearly: at this level of cases, with the spread of variants, we risk completely losing the hard-earned ground that we have won,” Walensky said.
“These variations pose a very real threat to our people and our progress. Now is not the time to relax essential protective measures that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close. ”
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.
[ad_2]
Source link