Michigan restaurant and bar owners who tuned in to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s press conference at noon today expecting to hear about expanded capacity limits at their establishments after the current 25-percent restriction had been slated to sunset this Sunday, February 21st heard absolutely nothing on the issue, leaving them in limbo. Unless you read the latest MDHHS order issued on February 4th.
That was the day that the governor eased restrictions on high school sports in Michigan, but said nothing publicly about any change in dine in restrictions because she had just announced the re-opening of February 1st days before. So, nobody expected that there would be any announcement until closer to the February 21st capacity date she announced near the end of January.
Either inadvertently or in a calculated move with no public comment on it, the state’s MDHHS updated order of February 4th established a new sunset of March 29, 2021 for ALL of the provisions in the order, including the 25-percent capacity limits that restaurateurs expected — or at least hoped — to see some movement on after February 21st. The bottom line is that essentially, that updated order pushes the truncated capacity rule all the way to the end of March. Unless it was a mistake.
Look at the timeline:
- Jan 22 – Whitmer announces Dine in re-opens Feb. 1. The order lasts three weeks – until Sunday, Feb. 21.
- Feb 4 – Whitmer announces contact sports can resume with risk reduction measures. This order takes effect on February 8, 2021, at 12:01 AM, at which time the January 22, 2021, order entitled Gatherings and Face Mask Order is rescinded. This order remains in effect through March 29, 2021, at 11:59 PM.
- The link below is the current MDHHS order. It does not have any reference to the previous Feb. 21 sunset.
Based on this information, it would appear that by rescinding the January 22nd order and replacing it with the February 4th order, the governor and her Health Department essentially extended the 25-percent restaurant restriction (among other restrictions) by an entire month… all without fanfare or any public reporting. Restaurateurs that I have talked to indicated they thought capacities would be allowed to be increased after this Sunday.
After I queried Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber President & CEO Arthur Havlicek regarding the apparent extension, he said, “If true, this move not only lacks transparency Michiganders deserve, it is one more piece of evidence that these restrictions are not based on data. Our numbers have consistently trended down since January 22nd and February 4th, and dine-in capacity should have increased accordingly.” He added, “Make no mistake, this is Governor Whitmer’s least transparent restriction extension to date. Michiganders – and restaurant operators in particular – deserve more clarity and transparency regarding these decisions and the factors that go into making them.”
Havlicek went on to say, “Since this was not announced or widely reported, many operators believe restrictions will ease this Sunday. Imagine their dismay when they learn they may have to struggle for another 40 days at 25-percent capacity despite COVID cases in our state continuously trending down.”
In the January 22nd announcement, MDHHS clearly stated:
“MDHHS had been closely monitoring three metrics for stabilization or declines over the past several weeks. Michigan continue to see improvements in these metrics which has allowed for additional relaxing of protocols and reopening of activities. In recent days:
- Hospital capacity dedicated to COVID-19 patients has been in seven-week decline, with current capacity at 9.9% for beds with COVID-19 patients. Peaked at 19.6% on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
- Overall case rates: Currently at 225 cases per million. Peaked at 740 cases per million on Saturday, Nov. 14, plateaued after a decline to 239 on Friday, Dec. 25 and has been in decline for 11 days.
- Positivity rate: currently at 6.8% and declining.”
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/coronavirus/12-18_Key_Metrics_710959_7.pdf
Based on today’s data from the MI Safe Start Map:
- Hospital Capacity is currently at 5.2% and declining.
- New cases are at 76.7 per million and declining.
- Positivity rate is at 3.7% and declining.
The SW Michigan Chamber leader contends, “With cases declining, hospital capacity increasing, and more vaccines being distributed each day, it’s clear Michigan is in a much better place in our fight against the virus than we were on January 22nd,” and concludes, “So, the question we must all ask ourselves is if restrictions are based on this data, why then are they being extended as things get better?”
