Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration is lifting a pandemic ban on the operations of Detroit's three casinos and in-person instruction at Michigan high schools and will allow other entertainment venues including movie theaters and bowling alleys to reopen after the state's COVID-19 infection transmission rate declined during a monthlong "pause."
A new epidemic order from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued Friday allows the MotorCity Casino Hotel, Greektown Casino-Hotel and MGM Grand Detroit to resume gambling operations at 12:01 a.m. Monday after being shuttered by the state since Nov. 18 in a bid to control spread of the coronavirus.
Restaurants, bars and nightclubs must remain closed until Jan. 15 under the new order from MDHHS Director Robert Gordon.
Whitmer said Friday that bars and restaurants could be allowed to reopen before Jan. 15 "if we substantially sustain progress" in lowering the number of new cases of COVID-19.
New cases of COVID-19 have been declining for 27 consecutive days, the percentage of hospital beds occupied have declined for two weeks and the percentage of positive tests have been in decline for the past 11 days, according to the MDHHS.
"The pause is working," Gordon said at a Friday afternoon news conference with Whitmer at the state Capitol in Lansing.
The seven-day average number of new cases on Thursday was 4,234, a 42 percent decline from the peak of 7,270 average daily cases on Nov. 21, a Crain's analysis shows.
"These are encouraging numbers," said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state's chief medical executive. "Michiganders did what we were supposed to do over the Thanksgiving holiday and we avoided the surge that so many other states are seeing."
Gordon noted the number of COVID-positive patients in Michigan hospitals remains high — triple the number of inpatients in mid-October — and some hospitals are still at or near capacity.
Michigan's seven-day average number of deaths has been above 100 for 15 consecutive days, a Crain's analysis shows.
"We have made great progress, but that progress is precarious," Gordon said. "Many countries and states have achieved gains likes ours, only to lose them."
An extension of the ban on indoor dining will leave restaurants closed for a total of 143 days since March 16, when Whitmer issued her first executive order closing down public-facing businesses to mitigate spread of the coronavirus during the spring surge.
After some restaurants erected fully enclosed and heated tents outdoors, the new order changes the definition of "indoors" to crack down on some of the temporary outdoor structures that have been put up outside dining establishments to get around the indoor ban.
The new order defines indoors as any structure "fully or partially enclosed on the top, and fully or partially enclosed on two or more contiguous sides.
"Additionally, in a space that is fully or partially enclosed on the top, and fully or partially enclosed on two non-contiguous sides, any part of that space that is more than 8 feet from an open side is indoors," Gordon's order states.
Movie theaters and bowling alleys also can resume operations on Monday, but cannot sell food or drink, Whitmer said.
"The key is keeping the mask on," the governor said.
The Michigan Licensed Beverage Association expressed disappointment and frustration over the ongoing restrictions.
"With COVID-related numbers trending down, we thought it was time to give our bars and restaurants a break. We do not understand why the hospitality industry has been singled out, while trampoline parks and other entertainment facilities are allowed to open," MLBA Executive Director Scott Ellis said in a statement.
Recent survey data from the MLBA depicts that, on average, bar owners are facing $28,000 per month in expenses, while losing out on $48,000 in potential revenue per month, it said in the release.
"This is going to be a difficult holiday season for those who have been out of work for months on end, at no fault of their own," Ellis said. "Michigan's 500,000 hospitality workers, who have been in financial survival mode for months on end, deserve no-nonsense answers and solutions from our government."
A 30 percent capacity limit for retail stores, libraries and museums remains in place under the revised order, which Gordon issued under Michigan's century-old public health code that gives him the power to take steps to control the spread of an infectious disease.
COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 11,200 Michigan residents, including Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, who died Thursday night.
Whitmer said she has asked colleges and universities to delay the start of their winter semester until Jan. 19 and not let students to return to on-campus housing until Jan. 16.
At Friday's news conference, Whitmer slammed outgoing President Donald Trump's handling the of the pandemic, two days after state officials learned that the Trump administration is cutting shipments of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine next week by 29 percent fewer doses.
"I'm angry because this virus is raging on in this country and there's either corruption and ineptitude that is keeping us from saving lives and protecting people," Whitmer said.
All high schools have been virtual since Nov. 18 following a spike in COVID-19 cases statewide. K-8 schools have been able to continue with on-site classes, though — as has been the case all fall — it is not required for them or high schools.
Most K-12 schools have scheduled two-week holiday vacations that begin Friday and won't resume school days — in person or virtual — until Jan. 4.
Last week, private schools challenged the high school closure in court, saying it violates the constitutional right to practice religion.
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State to allow high schools, theaters, casinos to reopen; ban on indoor dining extended - Crain's Detroit Business
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