States ‘carefully turn the dial’ up on reopening
Restrictions to loosen Wednesday in Minn.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Friday a gradual reopening of indoor dining, gyms and entertainment venues during the coronavirus pandemic.
Walz said the restrictions will loosen next Wednesday, but customers and employees still will be either strongly recommended or required to wear masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In a statement, Walz said the state is “now in a position to carefully turn the dial toward reopening society.”
Restaurants can offer indoor dining while maintaining social distancing, requiring reservations and seating at no more than 50 percent occupancy. Gyms, yoga studios, theaters, concert halls, bowling alleys and museums may open at 25 percent occupancy.
Places of worship can increase their occupancy to 50 percent.
Meanwhile, California will allow day camps, bars, gyms, campgrounds and professional sports to begin reopening with precautions in a week.
The nation’s most populated state released guidance Friday for counties on reopening a broad range of businesses that have been closed since mid-march because of concerns about spreading the coronavirus. It also includes much-anticipated guidance on the fall reopening of schools, which have been shuttered since March.
The rules on schools and day camps will apply statewide. Only counties that have met certain thresholds on the number of cases, testing and preparedness will be allowed to start reopening other parts of the economy next Friday. Almost all of the state’s 58 counties have met those thresholds.
The guidance includes rules on hotels, casinos, museums, zoos and aquariums and resuming music, film and television production. In other developments:
As New York City is preparing to reopen some businesses and increase subway service Monday, the state’s latest data suggests hospitalizations and deaths linked to the coronavirus are continuing their gradual decline. Mayor Bill de Blasio said city inspectors will visit every construction site to ensure compliance with rules to protect workers and the community from COVID-19.
Some businesses were slammed from the minute they reopened Friday after a 2½-month COVID-19 pandemic closure, while others waited for their first customers or even took another week to prepare. Bars, massage facilities, bowling alleys, recreational pools and tattoo shops in Louisiana were allowed to reopen under an order signed Thursday by Gov. John Bel Edwards.
The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday overturned orders that directed a barber to close his shop during the coronavirus pandemic, with one justice saying judges need to follow the “rule of law, not hysteria.” The Michigan appeals court made mistakes in telling a local judge to shut down Karl Manke’s shop in Owosso, 40 miles northeast of Lansing, the Supreme Court said.