President of MRLA releases statement about continuation of indoor dining ban

(Mich.) Justin Winslow, the President and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association (MRLA) released a statement Wednesday afternoon regarding MDHHS's decision to continue the indoor dining ban until at least February 1st. The statement released by Winslow says: "The governor’s continuation of this pause without a plan—now expanding to 75 days—is without parallel in the nation in terms of its unwillingness or inability to provide leadership to a decimated industry and its workforce. There are more than 100,000 unemployed hospitality workers and thousands of small operators on the edge of bankruptcy all waiting for hope and direction, and once again it did not come. This is unacceptable and we should all demand more accountability. Michigan’s restaurants have been closed for more days than any other state since the onset of the pandemic and Michigan stands alone as the only remaining statewide closure of dining rooms without a discernible, data-driven path to reopen and fully reintegrate in the economy. This, too, is unacceptable and we should all demand more accountability." The statement released by Winslow and the MRLA also contained some data about where Michigans stands currently in the restaurant and hospitality industry. According to the MRLA the jobs lost in Michigan's hospitality industry are double the national average when the numbers are looked at as a percentage of people working in the industry currently compared to February 2020, which was the last month before pandemic began. The statement released by Winslow also says that Michigan has already met all of the metrics that MDHHS established for safely restarting, including declining case numbers, positivity rates, and hospitalizations. Earlier on Wednesday the state announced that indoor dining could reopen on February 1st, but only with mitigation measures in place, capacity limits, and a curfew. The state is expected to lay out details for reopening restaurants to indoor dining next week.