(WXYZ) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon announced Friday that indoor dining will remain closed, but other businesses can reopen in the state.
Related: Read the Michigan epidemic order keeping in-person dining closed, reopening some businesses
Those businesses include movie theaters, bowling alleys, casinos and in-person classes at high schools resuming on Jan. 4 after the holiday break. They will not be able to serve concessions, according to the state.
The announcement comes just two days before the expiration of the the latest MDHHS Epidemic Order which kept those businesses closed. Originally, Whitmer and Gordon announced a 3-week pause amid rising COVID-19 cases, and then extended it 12 more days earlier this month.
Small outdoor gatherings will be limited to 25 people, and bingo halls, arcades and more can reopen.
The order will remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 15, according to the state.
According to Whitmer, if the state continues its progress and sees declining cases, they will think about lifting the restrictions sooner.
Recently, COVID-19 cases in the state had started declining, and Gordon said they would want to see declining case rates, declining percent of positive tests and a declining trend of hospital bed capacity before slowly restarting the state.
Since the "pause" was implemented in November, the MDHHS said there has been stabilization or decline in those three metrics.
- Hospital capacity declined over the past 13 days and is at 17.3% as of Dec. 18.
- Overall case rates have declined for the past 27 days and are at 439 cases per million people as of Dec. 18
- Positivity rate has declined for 11 days and is at 10.6% positive tests as of Dec. 18
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