Gov. Whitmer has lifted Michigan’s indoor dining restrictions, allowing restaurant dining rooms to reopen with conditions.

Updated January 25, 2021:

Under Executive Order 2020-115, restaurants and bars statewide will be allowed to reopen at 25% capacity for indoor seating beginning February 1st.

The new dining order which will last from Feb. 1 through Feb. 21, allows restaurants and bars to offer indoor dining at 25% capacity with up to 100 people, and they must close by 10 p.m. each night. Tables must continue to be six feet apart with no more than six people per table.

Michiganders must continue to wear face coverings when in enclosed public spaces and should continue to take all reasonable precautions to protect themselves at all times.

Restaurants must continue to operate for carryout and delivery only through January 31sth but now the Governor’s updated order allows for limited diners inside under the new phased-in plan starting in February.

Gov. Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, first announced their “pause to save lives” on Nov. 15. The order originally began Nov. 18, shuttered indoor dining and other businesses, like movie theaters.

State officials have since gradually lifted restrictions from the pause, culminating with the reopening of indoor dining on Feb. 1.

Whitmer said she will talk more in news conferences in the coming days and weeks about her process on restarting economic activity in a “smart way,” noting she wants to avoid a second wave of infections.

Restaurants are currently allowed to operate for limited carryout and delivery service during the duration of the dine-in closures.

Bars that hold a carryout retail license for beer and wine can also sell bottles to-go.

All restaurants, bars, bakeries, coffee shops and ice cream parlors in the downriver area can continue to operate with delivery, carryout, and curbside pickup by asking customers to wait in their cars until your order is ready.

Customers are encouraged to order online directly with the business or their chosen delivery service to place an order.

We have an updated list of the places downriver still open for delivery and carryout.

Please continue supporting these local businesses whenever you can to help keep our downriver community alive and humming until the statewide stay-at-home order is lifted and life returns with social distancing and eventually “business as usual.”

So what will the new normal look like for restaurants when they reopen?

More than likely, it will be up to every restaurant to make diners feel safe and comfortable while following specific actions that employers will take to mitigate the risk of spreading the virus, both to their employees as well as their customers.

That should include the obvious visible cleaning, wearing face masks, fewer tables farther apart, touchless ordering, plenty of hand sanitizer and so on.

To see more examples of how this might look, check out this article from ClickOnDetroit…

US restaurants expect big changes when their doors reopen

The days of standing shoulder-to-shoulder at a bar or sharing a meal at a table for 10 are gone for now – and could take a long time to return even after the coronavirus pandemic ends. U.S. restaurants are thinking ahead to a time when their dining room doors reopen to a changed world.

Restaurants will eventually bounce back in time but until then, we should support them in their rebuilding efforts as many have stayed open for us, and remember we are all in this together.

We will continue to update this article as it pertains to the food and restaurant industry and our local businesses for the downriver area.

Updated January 25, 2021 by news source:  DetroitNews.