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(WWJ) Word is that indoor movie theaters, skating rinks, bowling alleys, guys and other shuttered businesses could get the OK to reopen as early as this Wednesday.
"The governor has basically concluded that we can now do that safely," WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick reported Monday. "And the gym guys that we talked to said: Look it, we do have a protocol. We're actually going to be safer than going into a bar or a restaurant, except you can't get food and you can't get drunk. But who's counting?"
On Friday, WWJ Newsradio 950 reported Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was expected to speak on the issue this week, announcing exactly when it will happen.
Skubick said there is a slight chance the governor could still delay the move, as the pandemic remains a fluid situation, but at this point all signs are pointing to a reopening.
While it won't be official until the governor formally gives the go-ahead Skubick said, "Sources are saying there are strong indications the governor is ready to pull the trigger...as soon as Wednesday."
Gyms and theaters remain among a handful of type of businesses that are still closed in metro Detroit for over six months now under Whitmer's COVID-19 executive orders. That is with the exception of in Northern Michigan, including the U.P. and the Traverse City area, which have already moved on to Phase 5 of the governor's economic recovery plan.
"The irony of this story is last March, last April, the guy who runs Planet Fitness here in Michigan presented to the governor's staff and the Michigan Economic Recovery Commission a 90-page document on how to reopen businesses safely, and gyms were included on the list," Skubick said. "The bad news is they used that document to open everything else and the last ones to see the document put into play will be the gyms, the bowling alleys, the ice rinks, the movie theaters and the like."
Speaking last week, the governor said Michigan's economy is operating at 87% of where it was in early March, and that she wouldn't be "bullied" into opening more businesses until health officials and the data make her confident that it's time to do so.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said Friday he does believe it's time as, he says, "the curve has flattened."
"Believe it or not, many of them are opening anyways," Hackel added.
This comes as coronavirus outbreaks in long-term care facilities, food processing plants and at social gatherings are the leading causes of cases in Michigan — although it's notable that the number of cases reported today is the lowest in more than a week.
The Michigan Department of Health Department said there were 451 new cases confirmed on Monday. In addition to the new cases, seven additional deaths were reported. There have been more than 102,000 cases since mid-March, and 76,000 people have recovered, health officials say.
All totaled, nearly 6,500 Michigan residents have died from COVID-19.