Stores and restaurants can begin serving customers on-site Monday as “Phase 2” of Massachusetts’ reopening from coronavirus shutdowns begins.
But Monday’s steps, which include outdoor-only dining at restaurants, will serve only as a small appetizer for a yet-to-be-announced full reopening date, as 80% of restaurants in the state don’t have the ability to serve outdoors.
“The start of Phase 2 is a bright spot for our commonwealth,” Gov. Charlie Baker proclaimed in Saturday’s press conference, announcing the long-awaited step in the four-phase reopening.
But Phase 2 will be done in two steps, said Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy. The first, starting Monday, allows the reopening of retail stores, child care facilities, lodging — and allows restaurants to begin to serve people outdoors. Also included are warehouses, amateur sports, pro sports practices and funeral homes.
Each of the industries that opens up will have to follow social-distancing steps, such as a limit in the number of people allowed in a store at a given time, and tables have to be 6 feet apart outside restaurants.
Also starting Monday, preventative health services like routine doctor appointments and procedures like mammograms and colonoscopies — all of which had been on hold — will be allowed to resume. Over the next few weeks, medical facilities will begin to allow visitors.
The second step, which will begin at a later date yet to be determined, will allow restaurants to serve people indoors. Also during that step, close-contact personal services like nail salons and tanning, and tattoo/massage parlors will be able to open.
As this rollout happens, medical facilities, soldiers’ homes and nursing homes will begin to allow visitors, though mostly only via outside visitation and with strict rules.
Al Giorgio, owner of La Famiglia Giorgio’s Ristorante in the North End, said he can’t open on Monday because he doesn’t have outdoor seating space. He said it’ll remain tough times for him and other eateries until restaurants are fully opened.
“There’s no margins in this business,” Giorgio said.
With that said, he agrees with Baker’s decision: “We have to think of our customers and our workers and I don’t want to take any chances.”
Bob Luz, president of the Restaurant Association of Massachusetts, said 80% of restaurants are in the same boat as Giorgio’s, with no outdoor seating. He urged cities and towns to streamline the normally weeks- to months-long process restaurants normally have to go through to get an “extension of premises,” the permit for outdoor seating.
“It’s mission-critical that as quickly as possible they streamline this process,” Luz said.
Luz said he suspects between those restrictions and a shaky supply chain, only a handful of restaurants will open this coming week. He said he expects indoor dining to follow in the next two weeks.
“It’s been 83 days that our people have been held hostage, and they can’t wait to get open and operating,” Luz said.
Boston is eyeing creating more space on its streets and sidewalks for restaurants to put out tables, and has floated the idea of substantially closing Hanover Street in the North End to traffic with the same goal in mind.
The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has pummeled the economy, as much activity has shut down in an effort to stop the spread of the highly contagious disease.
Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said it was “great news” that shops can finally open up starting on Monday. But it won’t come without challenges, he said, as shops have to worry about clearing out old inventory and consumers who have built up online spending habits.
“It’s going to take some time to reconnect with some of these customers,” Hurst said.
“I’m guessing that things will start building, consumer traffic will increase the closer we get to Fourth of July weekend,” he said, “but it’s going to be relatively slow early on.”
Paul Sacco, chief of the Massachusetts Lodging Association, said, “I think this is going to be fine. We just have to ensure that there’s not an uptick in people getting the virus, and hope that travelers will, in fact, start to move.”
Sacco said it may take a while for customers to feel comfortable staying in hotels, so the state and local tourism councils should make an effort to encourage residents to travel within the state.
But, of Saturday’s announcement in broad strokes, Sacco said, “My final word on it is ‘Hallelujah.'”
