Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced on Wednesday that restaurants will be able to host up to 50 customers in outdoor seating but that churches will still be limited to 10 no matter the setting.
Walz announced several changes to his coronavirus policies that will take effect on June 1, including the limited reopening of hair salons and tattoo parlors. Under the new guidance, restaurants will be able to allow 50 customers to dine in on outdoor patios. Customers and employees are encouraged to wear masks, though it is not clear how customers would wear a mask while eating or drinking in the restaurant.
Churches were not granted more liberty by Walz. Under the policy, indoor and outdoor religious services are still limited to 10 or fewer people. Religious groups can still host drive-up services.
Regarding why restaurants could host 50 people outdoors but religious centers could not, Walz said there is “not a perfect answer.” He claimed that the decision-making was based on the “predictability” of the venue but then said that many religious gatherings have predictable crowds.
“I think, and I’m hearing strongly on this, of trying to figure out how we make that happen because I think the logic behind it, and I think, again, it was the predictability of who’s there. But I think you could argue, ‘Boy, I see the same people every Sunday at my congregation and, in fact, the Smiths sat in the same pew every year for 30 years, so we know exactly where they’re at and we know exactly where they are,'” Walz said.
“I just want to say that I think there is a very strong sense of urgency for us to figure this piece out around churches. And I say that about all the businesses, but I do think these pieces of people’s lives — we need to try and get it around. So, Dave, I would just tell you, I think it goes with the predictability piece of it. I will, again, say that I don’t think that it’s perfect, and I think there’s some things that we have to still continue to figure out,” Walz added.
These decisions were included in the third phase of Walz’s five-phase plan. Walz did not include a prediction as to when phase four would begin. Under phase four, churches will be allowed to increase their indoor capacities to 20 and their outdoor capacities to 100. Restaurants will be allowed to serve customers indoors in phase four, but Walz did not include capacity guidelines. Churches and restaurants are both not allowed to hit full capacity in phase five.
