Businesses That Can Reopen May 18 Won't Know Until ... May 18

MASSACHUSETTS — Businesses that will be allowed to return in the first phase of the state's reopening plan likely won't know until the reopening advisory board rolls out industry-specific guidelines May 18, Gov. Charlie Baker said.

Reporters tried Tuesday afternoon to get Baker to expand on the four-phase reopening plan announced Monday. He didn't reveal much about the plan, which some have criticized as vague and lacking in detail, but said whatever nonessential businesses that will be allowed to reopen won't know until the statewide closure is lifted.

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Baker again said the businesses that will reopen in the first phase will be ones that "don't have a lot of face-to-face interaction with customers as part of their regular business." He did not talk about specific businesses or industries.

May 18 is when the stay-at-home advisory and closure of nonessential businesses expire. It's also when the state's reopening advisory board will issue a report detailing what is hoped to be a safe reopening of the economy.

Essential businesses, including those open now, will have to abide by the state's new mandatory safety guidelines on May 18.

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Baker has repeatedly said the reopening of Massachusetts will progress only as much as the health data does. Officials are closely watching several metrics, many of which have been trending downward in recent weeks.

In Monday's report, the Department of Public Health said there are 78,462 confirmed coronavirus and 5,108 deaths related to COVID-19. But even as the numbers continue to grow, the amount of new hospitalizations and the infection rate among those tested has been steadily declining.

See the latest report here.