Michigan loosening workplace restrictions for vaccinated employees

Michigan’s governor announced Monday that fully vaccinated employees can go maskless and forgo social distancing rules at workplaces across the state.

The Associated Press reported that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) issued the order, effective immediately, which also ended the requirement that employees must work remotely if possible and allowed bars to reopen dance floors and other attractions such as pool tables.

“The law no longer requires remote work,” Whitmer said. “I want to thank the employers who are taking this seriously and working with their employees to navigate things like child care and the work-life balance and ongoing personal health concerns.”

The announcement comes four days after the governor accelerated the pace of her state’s “Vacc to Normal” plan for ending restrictions on public life as more and more Michiganders become fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

“Starting June 1st, we will be moving forward, faster than excepted, towards a return to normalcy. Soon, Michiganders will be able to celebrate together, have summer weddings and even enjoy a 4th of July barbeque with family and friends. This is what we have all been working so hard towards, and I am so grateful to every Michigander who continues to go above and beyond to keep themselves, their family, and our communities safe. Thanks to them, we can take these final steps towards a return to the normalcy and build our economy back stronger than ever,” Whitmer said in a news release last week.

The state plans to end all capacity limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings by July 1. While overall capacity for indoor venues is increasing, it will remain capped for the foreseeable future at 50 percent.

Whitmer has face particularly strong resistance in her state to COVID-19 restrictions, and last year even faced a kidnapping and assassination plot that FBI officials announced they had foiled in the fall.

Roughly 40.7 percent of the state’s population has received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine, according to state health statistics.