Michigan, U.S., relaxes epidemic blockade measures, retail store traffic limit increased to 50%

According to Reuters yesterday, the Michigan health department announced on Tuesday a decision to relax epidemic blockade measures, expand gathering sizes, and relax business restrictions on restaurants and other businesses. This order will take effect on Friday and will last until April 19.

The order provides that:

Restaurants and bars will increase their indoor seating from 25% to 50% of capacity, which means a maximum of 100 people.

The capacity of gymnasiums will be increased from 25% to 30% ;

The capacity limit for retail stores will be increased from 25 % to 50%;

Venues such as cinemas, bowling alleys and banquet halls can accommodate up to 300 patrons in both indoor and outdoor areas .

The issuance of the new order by the Michigan Department of Health may be related to the state's lower COVID-19 infection rate. As of now, Michigan has reported 590,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The state's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, said at a press conference on Tuesday that the government will still be able to protect public health after the capacity of offline scenes is expanded because they will carefully track variables and continue to act based on science and data.

In addition to Michigan, Louisiana in the southern United States has also relaxed restrictions on indoor dining.

Louisiana Governor Bel Edwards said the state will allow restaurants, shopping malls and most businesses to expand capacity to 75%; gatherings in indoor event halls will be expanded to 50% capacity, with a maximum of 250 people.

The state's governor also tweeted on Tuesday that following a decrease in confirmed and hospitalized cases of COVID-19 in Louisiana, the state will enter a third phase of adjustment.

In addition, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday the most comprehensive COVID-19 "unblocking" policy among all states in the United States, including the lifting of the mask ban and the announcement that most businesses will operate at full capacity starting next week.

While the relaxation of epidemic prevention and control measures in various states in the United States will increase manpower and material resources for the order fulfillment process of cross-border e-commerce, it will also lead to the recovery of offline physical stores and a decline in the number of online orders. Sellers can pay more attention and be mentally prepared in advance!

Michigan

Louisiana