AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- As the month of May arrives, businesses across the state are getting ready to re-open under the first phase of Gov. Greg Abbott's plan to jump start the Texas economy in the wake of the coronavirus.
The first phase of Abbott's plan gets underway Friday, with restaurants, retail, movie theaters, and shopping malls among others able to re-open to customers at 25 percent of their normal occupancy. For rural counties that have 5 or less confirmed cases of COVID-19, businesses may be able to open back up to 50 percent of normal occupancy.
Businesses will also have to take steps to protect employees and customers - including extensive cleaning and sanitation requirements, ensuring social distancing, and following other steps outlined in the state's "minimum recommended protocols" as outlined on the Department of State Health Services website.
Restaurants that open for dine-in service are expected to keep parties at least 6 feet apart while they're waiting to be seated, and tables should be limited to no more than six diners. Disposable menus should be used, employees should serve food from any buffet lines, condiments will be provided on request in single-serve packets or individual containers, and glasses and silverware should not be left on tables.
Public swimming pools, bars, gyms, cosmetology salons, massage businesses, bowling alleys, video arcades and tattoo and piercing studios are among the businesses that remain closed. A second phase of Abbott's plan could begin as early as May 18, which may include some of these types of businesses.
