Gov. Charlie Baker announced Saturday that Massachusetts will enter Phase 2 of the state reopening plan on Monday.
“The start of Phase 2 is a bright spot for our commonwealth,” Baker said Saturday. “We know the closures have been difficult.”
Baker said the state is ready for the second phase of the reopening plan with significantly expanded access to testing and a downward trend in the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
Under Phase 2 of the plan, retail, outdoor dining, hotels and other industries can reopen under strict restrictions.
Phase 2 will be divided into two parts. Starting Monday - following the implementation of mandated safety standards - the following can reopen:
- Childcare facilities and day camps
- Driving and flight school
- Funeral homes, with occupancy limits
- Higher education classes including post-secondary, vocational tech and occupation schools may allow students complete required courses for graduation.
- Historical spaces may reopen outdoor facilities. No guided tours allowed nor can they host functions or gatherings.
- Hotels and other lodgings, though they may not host events, functions or meetings
- Outdoor recreation including pools, playgrounds and driving ranges
- Personal services, such as home cleaning, window washing, education tutoring and career coaching, with social distancing mandated
- Restaurants, offering only outdoor dining and takeout
- Retail, with occupancy limits
- Sports: Professional teams may continue practices starting Monday, though no games or public admission is allowed. Youth sports and adult amateur leagues may resume as well.
- Warehouses and distribution centers
Health care providers may also resume in-person services including annual visits, dental visits and vision care on Monday. Elective cosmetic procedures and in-person day programs will not be allowed until Phase 3.
State health officials urged all to consider telehealth options when possible.
The second section of industries included in Phase 2 - including indoor dining and industries that offer personal services such as nail and tanning salons - will reopen at an unspecified date as long as the trend of COVID cases continues to decline.
Included in the second part of Phase 2 are the following:
- Indoor table service at restaurants
- Close-contact personal services, including: hair removal, hair replacement and scalp treatment, nail salons, skin care, massage therapy, makeup services, tanning salons, tattoo and piercing services and personal trainers.
The reopening plan’s four phases are named “Start," “Cautious,” “Vigilant” and "The New Normal,” respectively. Each phase will last a minimum of three weeks and could revert to a previous phase if a spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases is seen.
In the “start” phase, construction, manufacturing and places of worship were among the first to allowed to resume, with significant restrictions to encourage social distancing. Doctors and dentists were allowed to start seeing patients again for non-emergency visits and beaches reopened on Memorial Day.
In the “Cautious” phase, additional industries, previously designated as non-essential, are expected to resume operations with restrictions and capacity limits.
Baker announced the Reopening Advisory Board in late April, chaired by Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy, and comprised of representatives from the business community, public health officials, and municipal leaders from across the state. In determining the four phases of reopening, the board heard from “more than 75 business associations, labor unions, non-profits, and community coalitions that collectively represent more than 112,000 businesses and more than 2,000,000 employees,” the governor’s office said and reviewed more than 4,600 written submissions.
When Gov. Charlie Baker ordered the shutdown of non-essential businesses in March, Massachusetts had 95 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Three months later, the number of confirmed cases in the commonwealth has reached more than 100,000, with 7,235 coronavirus-related deaths reported as of Friday.
The state’s “safer at home” advisory encourages people to stay home unless they are going to one of the newly opened businesses or to an essential business.
People who are older and those who have pre-existing health conditions are strongly encouraged to limit their travels to essential functions, such as going to get medical care or getting groceries.
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