MICHIGAN (WKZO AM/FM) — It’s an exciting day for the restaurant industry in Michigan.
Beginning on Monday, June 8 restaurants and bars can reopen for indoor and outdoor seating, but it will still look a little different.
Tables must be kept six feet apart to maintain social distancing and capacity will only be at 50%.
According to the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association some of the other protocols include:
- Require servers to wear face coverings
- Follow rigorous disinfection protocols
- Provide COVID-19 training to workers that covers, at a minimum, workplace infection-control practices
- Provide employees with the proper use of PPE
- Provide steps workers must take to notify the business or operation of any symptoms of COVID-19 or a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19
- Provide information on how to report unsafe working conditions
On June 1st Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that she was lifting Michigan’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order and letting restaurants reopen to dine-in customers.
Bar owners didn’t waste a single minute of their time, as some re-opened at 12:01 a.m. Monday for a couple of hours. The Green Top Tavern in Kalamazoo posted on their Facebook page saying, She’s back and better than ever!” The Library Taphouse & Kitchen also held a reopening party at midnight. The popular bar near Western Michigan University posted some notes on their Facebook page with one saying, “Enjoy yourself. Eat your food, have some drinks, enjoy your company. But please don’t sit at a chair or table all night if you’re not going to continue to spend money. We are working with limited space and capacity and we want to serve as many of you as possible. ”
Other reopenings are also expected in the upcoming days. On Wednesday, June 10th the Upper Peninsula and the greater Traverse City area will be able to move into phase five of the governor’s “MI Safe Start Plan,” allowing salons, gyms, and movie theaters, to resume activities in that area.
Moving to phase five means parts of northern Michigan will be able to have indoor gatherings of up to 50 people, outdoor gatherings of up to 250 people, and sports and event venues will be able to reopen with a capacity of 500 people.
And while the rest of the state is still in phase four, Whitmer is allowing personal care services like salons to reopen statewide beginning Monday, June 15.
