Michigan Reopening Details

Restaurants

Whitmer announced June 1 that she was lifting the stay-at-home order for the entire state. One week later, restaurants are allowed to let customers back inside.

Groups have to stay at least six feet apart, servers have to wear masks and restaurants cannot fill past 50% capacity.

Stay-a-home order lifted

When the stay-at-home order was lifted, Whitmer opened the door for many types of businesses -- both inside and outside -- to resume operations.

Up until June 1, retail businesses were allowed to have up to 10 customers at a time, but all business had to be by appointment. Now customers can shop without appointments, a modification that went into effect Thursday (June 4). Social distancing and safe coronavirus rules will still be enforced.

Day camps for children, as well as pools, can open Monday (June 8), though many of them are deciding to remain closed through the summer. These types of outdoor activities had been a hot topic of discussion as the weather improves in Michigan.

Under the new order, outdoor high school graduation parties are also allowed, as long as people who don’t live together stay at least six feet apart. Those gatherings can’t exceed 100 people.

Outdoor fitness classes, athletic practices, training sessions, and games are allowed as long as coaches, spectators, and participants not from the same household maintain a distance of six feet from one another at all times, Whitmer said.

That means gyms and fitness centers can hold outdoor classes and workouts as well, but they have to meet the social distancing guidelines.

In-home services, such as house cleaning, are also permitted.

Drive-in movie theaters can open, but indoor theaters remain closed.

Any office workers whose jobs can’t be done remotely may return to the office, effective immediately, Whitmer said.

Gatherings

The governor previously allowed gatherings of up to 10 people on May 21. That’s still the rule for indoor gatherings, but when she lifted the stay-at-home order, Whitmer expanded the size of groups that can gather outside to 100.

In regions six and eight, up to 50 people can gather inside and up to 250 people can gather outside.

Participants must still practice social distancing, Whitmer said. Anyone able to wear a face mask must do so over their nose and mouth when in an enclosed public space, she said.

Coming soon:

Hairstylists, nail salons, massages

Hair, nail, and massage businesses across the state of Michigan will be allowed to reopen on June 15.

Indoor arcades, bowling alleys, cinemas, climbing facilities, convention centers, meeting halls, night clubs, performance spaces, sports arenas, theaters, and similar venues can reopen, under certain restrictions.

What still isn’t open?

Whitmer provided a list of businesses that remain closed in the June 1 executive order that moved the entire state to phase four of her reopening plan.

Here are the businesses that remain closed in every region except for the Upper Peninsula and Traverse City Region (items specified as “indoor” mean only the indoor versions of the businesses are singled out as closed in the executive order):

  • Amusement parks

  • Arcades

  • Bingo halls

  • Body art facilities

  • Bowling alleys

  • Casinos licensed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board

  • Climbing facilities (indoor)

  • Dance areas (indoor)

  • Exercise facilities (indoor)

  • Exercise studios (indoor)

  • Fitness centers (indoor)

  • Gymnasiums (indoor)

  • Millionaire Parties licensed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board

  • Piercing services

  • Racetracks licensed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board

  • Recreation centers (indoor)

  • Skating rinks

  • Sports facilities (indoor)

  • Tanning salons

  • Tattoo parlors

  • Theaters, cinemas, and performance venues (indoor)

  • Trampoline parks

The executive order says any indoor services or facilities, or outdoor services or facilities, involving close contact between people for amusement or other recreational or entertainment purposes are closed.

Obviously, some items on this list are being reopened in regions six and eight, since Whitmer moved those regions to phase five of the plan.

Indoor arcades, bowling alleys, cinemas, climbing facilities, convention centers, meeting halls, night clubs, performance spaces, sports arenas, theaters, outdoor concert spaces, race tracks, sports arenas, stadiums, and similar venues are reopening Wednesday (June 10) in the Upper Peninsula and Traverse City Region, as stated above.

Any items on the above bullet point list that are not included in the June 5 reopening announcement for regions six and eight remain closed statewide.

**Courtesy of ClickonDetroit.com, Author Derick Hutchinson

Abraham Aiyash