Michigan restaurants have been closed for indoor dining since Nov. 18 and are expected to reopen Monday, Feb. 1. | Kaboompics.com/Pexels
Michigan restaurants have been closed for indoor dining since Nov. 18 and are expected to reopen Monday, Feb. 1. | Kaboompics.com/Pexels
Michigan restaurants continue to take a hit as the indoor dining ban, which has been in place since Nov. 18, has been extended through at least Monday, Feb. 1.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended the lockdown, the second of which the state has enacted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first lockdown in March contributed to the loss of 977, 200 jobs in Michigan and helped send unemployment soaring to 23.8%, according to Michigan Capitol Confidential. It was supposed to end April 12 but instead lasted 56 days, while the current lockdown will span 75 days, if not longer, should Whitmer choose to extend it past Monday, Feb. 1.
The current indoor dining ban is proving just as costly, as a recent survey reported that as many as 5,600, or 33%, of Michigan's restaurants are likely to be permanently shuttered in the next six months. As the restaurant industry attempts to stay afloat, the state government has grown during the pandemic, from 47,324 full-time jobs to 47,522 in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
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