Welcome To The Club: Michigan To Relax Indoor Dining Restrictions

Michigan has now decided to ease restrictions for bars, restaurants and other businesses as reported COVID-19 cases continue to decline.

Yes, Michigan. Of all crazy places with crazy governors. In this case, crazy Governor Gretchen Whitmer will allow indoor dining to increase to 50% capacity.

"Restaurants can accept twice as many indoor diners, shops and business can also allow more customers and private gatherings may involve more people under a new state health order set to take affect Friday," the Detroit Free Press reported.

Michigan is just the latest in a long line of states that now allow businesses to increase capacity, given the declining COVID cases and the rise in available vaccines. Kentucky has also just become another.

“As we continue our vaccine rollout and make steady progress against the virus, we are taking additional incremental steps to re-engage to ensure we are protecting our families and front-line workers and saving lives,” Whitmer said in a statement.

 “Michigan is a national leader in the fight against COVID-19, and our fact-based, data-driven approach will help our state rebuild our economy and resume normal day-to-day activities...We all have a personal responsibility to slow the spread of the virus so we can end this pandemic together."

Whitmer pointed to three specific areas of improvement to explain her decision to allow more people inside Michigan businesses -- COVID-19 case rates, test positivity rates and hospital capacity.

What she didn't say is that a Democrat is now president, and fellow Democrats likely want to see the economy improve when that is the case, but crater when it is not.