State Transitions to Second Phase of Economic Reopening

BOSTON — The Baker-Polito administration announced that phase 2 of the Commonwealth’s reopening plan begins today, June 8. Businesses and sectors set to begin opening in phase 2 are subject to compliance with all mandatory safety standards.

The following businesses will be eligible to reopen immediately, with contingencies:

• Retail, with occupancy limits;

• Childcare facilities and day camps, with detailed guidance;

• Restaurants, outdoor table service only;

• Hotels and other lodgings, but no events, functions, or meetings;

• Warehouses and distribution centers;

• Personal services without close physical contact, such as home cleaning, photography, window washing, career coaching, and education tutoring;

• Post-secondary, higher education, vocational-technical, and occupational schools for the purpose of completing graduation requirements;

• Youth and adult amateur sports, with detailed guidance;

• Outdoor recreation facilities;

• Professional sports practices, but no games or public admissions;

• Non-athletic youth instructional classes in arts, education, or life skills in groups of less than 10;

• Driving and flight schools;

• Outdoor historical spaces, but no functions, gatherings, or guided tours; and

• Funeral homes, with occupancy limits.

The following businesses will be eligible reopen later in phase 2, at a date to be determined:

• Indoor table service at restaurants; and

• Close-contact personal services, with restrictions, including hair removal and replacement, nail care, skin care, massage therapy, makeup salons and makeup-application services, tanning salons, personal training (with restrictions), and tattoo, piercing, and body-art services. A full list with safety protocols is available at www.mass.gov/reopening.

Healthcare providers may also incrementally resume in-person elective, non-urgent procedures and services, including routine office visits, dental visits, and vision care subject to compliance with public health and safety standards. All other in-person medical, behavioral-health, dental, and vision services may also resume on June 8, except for elective cosmetic procedures and in-person day programs, which will be included in phase 3. Telehealth must continue to be utilized and prioritized to the greatest extent possible, whenever feasible and appropriate.

Limited reopening of visitation will also begin, and all visitation is subject to infection-control protocol, social distancing, and face coverings. Given the diversity of facilities and programs, there are specific timetables for visitation, and congregate-care programs will be reaching out to families with specific details on scheduling visits.

On May 18, the administration released a four-phased plan to reopen the economy based on public health data, spending at least three weeks in each phase. Key public health data, such as new cases and hospitalizations, has been closely monitored and seen a significant decline, allowing for phase 2 to begin.

The public-health dashboard designating the progress of key COVID-19 data metrics has been updated to reflect the number of COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts hospitals to green, indicating a positive trend.

Since mid-April, the seven-day average for the positive COVID-19 test rate is down 82%, the three-day average of hospitalized patients is down 55%, and the number of hospitals in surge is down 76%.

A total of 630,000 viral COVID-19 tests have been completed, and testing continues to increase throughout the state.