These MA Industries Will Be Allowed To Reopen In Phase 1

MASSACHUSETTS — The manufacturing and construction industries will join houses of worship in getting the green light to get back to business when Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday unveils the first phase of the state's reopening, according to a memo obtained by The Boston Globe.

The businesses that are allowed to reopen will need to meet new mandatory public health guidelines. They will also need to follow guidelines specific to their industry, but those have not yet been announced.

The reopening advisory board is set to release those guidelines Monday, as well as more details about the state's most aggressive step forward since the coronavirus shuttered the economy.

Outdoor construction will begin immediately, but major indoor projects won't resume until later in the month, The Globe reported.

Many religious leaders have been lobbying Baker to reopen houses of worship, some arguing it was an infringement on the Constitution to close them. A pastor in Worcester sued Baker after being fined multiple times for holding service.

Baker said the four-phased reopening would be deliberately paced and based on public health metrics. Pressed all week by reporters as to which businesses would be allowed to reopen first, he said only that it would include those with limited face-to-face interaction with customers.

The second phase will see "additional industries resume operations with restrictions and capacity limits."

What We Know And Don't Know About The Reopening Plan

The numbers released by the state Sunday afternoon showed 92 more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 5,797. There were 1,077 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 86,010.

The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized continued to fall to 2,597, while the infection rate from more than 12,000 tests performed fell below 9 percent for the first time.