(WXYZ) — A proposed bill in the Michigan Senate that would set out a plan for COVID-19 restrictions would mean the end of indoor dining under the positivity rate the state is seeing right now.
Senate Bill 250, introduced by Republican Sen. Jon Bumstead and backed by several Republicans, lays out different restrictions for indoor dining and gatherings based on the positivity rate or the percentage of hospital beds being used.
As of Wednesday, Michigan's positivity rate was at 15.6%, the highest since April 24, 2020. With that high of a rate, the bill would close indoor dining and limit the occupancy of a meeting or an event to a maximum of 10 people from no more than two households.
The least amount of restrictions would come if the positivity rate was less than 3% or if less than 3% of hospital beds were being used to treat COVID-19 patients for seven or more days. Under those numbers, there would be no limit on indoor dining or meetings or events.
If the positivity rates or percentage of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients is between 3%-6.9%, indoor dining would be limited to 50% and food or drinks could only be consumed in designated areas where people are seated. Occupancy for meeting or events would also be limited to 50 people per 1,000 square feet with a maximum of 250 people inside or 500 outdoors.
Between 7% and 9.9%, indoor dining would still be at 50% but meeting space would decrease to 25 people per 1,000 square feet with a max of 150 people indoors or 250 outdoors. Restaurants would also be encouraged to collect names and phone numbers of people who were there for the purposes of contact tracing.
If it increases to 10% and up to 14.9%, indoor dining would be limited to 25% capacity and event space would be 15 people per 1,000 square feet with a max of 50 people inside and 150 people outside.
From 15% to 19.9%, indoor dining would be closed and events would be limited to 10 people from two households. If it increases to 20% or above, everything would have to close and events wouldn't happen.
The bill was passed by the Senate and is now in the House Committee on Government Operations.
Currently, Michigan has indoor dining capped at 50%.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
