The Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association unveiled a new plan this morning focused on returning restaurants and banquet centers to normal operations.
The group says the first step of the "MI Safe Dining" initiative would create a re-integration schedule tied to the daily positive test rate reported by the state Health Department. The second step calls for restaurant and hospitality industry workers to deemed essential workers and thus given priority to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
So, what happens next? Someone in government would have to respond to the plan for it to become reality. Currently, Michigan restaurants are allowed to operate at 25% capacity and with a curfew, enforced social distancing, a mask mandate and other rules.
The Detroit News reports members of Whitmer's administration have "resisted listing specific metrics for easing restrictions, saying the decisions are based on trends in hospitalizations, new cases and testing data." Michigan's then-health director Robert Gordon said Jan. 22 indoor dining was "still a source of high risk around COVID-19."
But the head of the association says if restaurant workers were given priority in the vaccination schedule it would provide safety to frontline workers, allow for the stable reintegration of Michigan’s second largest employer and restore public confidence that they may safely dine and travel once again. Restaurant workers in Detroit are eligible for the vaccine, but so far that's the only area prioritizing food workers in the process of administering the coronavirus vaccine.
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"The proposed plan aspires to provide a clear, metric-driven solution for elected officials that will in turn enable hotel and restaurant operators to remain in business, restore jobs, and return to a more Pure Michigan," the restaurant association says.
The first step of the plan is the creation of a reintegration schedule that directly ties restaurant and event space occupancy to the COVID-19 “Daily Positive Test Rate,” reported by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). "The data is clear, easy to understand and available to the public through the 'MI Safe Start Map,'" restaurant association says.
“We have long advocated the need for a more comprehensive strategy for the economic reintegration of our restaurants, banquet centers and entertainment venues in Michigan,” said Justin Winslow, president & CEO of the MRLA. Through this plan, we are putting our metrics where our mouth is and hope it proves a useful tool to elected leaders as we enter a new phase of the pandemic.”
The second step of the plan focuses on the importance of a systematic and expedited vaccination of the hospitality industry as “Other Essential Frontline Workers” under Category 1b established by MDHHS. There is precedence in prioritizing hospitality workers for the vaccine.
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The association points out that states with similarly prolonged industry shutdowns like Colorado, New York, Massachusetts and Washington D.C. have already begun the targeted vaccination of the hospitality industry, arguing it is necessary to the successful reintegration of the very public-facing industry in their states.
“There is no faster way to build back our restaurants and hotels than through the systematic, expedited vaccination of Michigan’s hospitality industry,” said Winslow. “Vaccination will provide safety to frontline workers, allow for the stable reintegration of Michigan’s second largest employer and restore public confidence that they may safely dine and travel once again.
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