Massachusetts takes another step Monday in its gradual reopening of the economy, allowing indoor dining at restaurants for the first time in months amid a string of generally positive signals about the state’s progress against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move comes two weeks after dining establishments were allowed to reopen with outdoor seating, and it opens the door for eateries with limited outdoor space to ramp up their businesses amid a monthslong public health crisis that has devastated the industry. Restaurants have not been able to offer indoor seating since mid-March, when they were ordered to temporarily offer takeout only as the novel coronavirus took hold.
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“I think if we don’t let our guard down, we’ll be able to operate safely and navigate through this until there is a vaccine,” said George Carey, who is preparing to reopen indoor space at his North Shore restaurants Finz Seafood & Grill and Sea Level Oyster Bar.
He said he believes restaurants are well-suited to lead the way in reopening, because they have to follow strict sanitation guidelines even under normal circumstances: “It’s been a challenge for everybody in the state, and we’re up for the challenge,” Carey said.
The next step in reopening follows several weeks of downward trends in key metrics that Governor Charlie Baker’s administration is using to guide its pandemic response.
Massachusetts authorities said Sunday that 30 more people had died from COVID-19 and that public health officials had detected 125 new cases in the state.
The state has now seen 107,061 cases of COVID-19 and 7,858 deaths, according to a Department of Public Health report that includes both probable and confirmed cases. When only confirmed cases are counted, the numbers are 102,333 cases and 7,677 deaths. The pace of the disease’s spread here has decreased markedly since its height in April, however.
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Fewer people among those tested have been turning out positive for the coronavirus, the state said Sunday. The seven-day weighted average of positive test rates held steady Saturday at 1.9 percent. It has dropped 93 percent since April 15.
Indoor restaurant tables in Massachusetts will have to be at least 6 feet apart, though there won’t be a capacity limit. Parties will have a maximum of six people, and bar seating will be prohibited.
Also Monday, close-contact services such as nail salons and massage and tattoo parlors can begin offering some services. And retail outlets will be permitted to open dressing rooms by appointment. Offices will be allowed to increase their capacity to 50 percent.
But the progress comes as other regions see alarming signs that COVID-19 is spreading as officials elsewhere attempt to reopen their own economies. On Sunday, US Senator Elizabeth Warren said she would like to see a consistent, national approach that makes enough progress to reassure anxious workers and consumers.
“We’ve got to get this pandemic under control. We cannot reopen this economy if the number of COVID-19 cases is continuing to rise — if people are worried about sending their kids to schools, worried about going into shops, worried about going to churches and synagogues,” Warren said during an appearance on WCVB-TV.
On Sunday in the Back Bay, diners lined tables set up outside of restaurants, but some said they were not yet ready to take the next step. Outside the Life Alive Organic Cafe on Boylston Street, Katie Evans of Watertown said she has been carefully watching the case numbers rise after restrictions were eased in Florida, where her daughter lives.
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”They never wear a mask, they’re not social distancing. I think it’s a bad omen,” Evans said.
Because of that, Evans said she won’t be ready to dine inside a restaurant soon.
On Columbia Road near Boston’s Franklin Park, Zee Cruz and his family said they aren’t planning to eat out for months, but he believes many people will think differently.
“People will go; I’m sure they’ll go,” Cruz said.
His brother, Luis Cruz, said he believes many will venture out “because you’re sick of eating your own food.”
Even institutions that were part of the first phase of reopening, which began late last month, are still trying to strike a balance that makes room for customers who have different comfort levels. Some houses of worship, for instance, have held services outside for people who are not ready to attend indoor events.
At Saint Ann By The Sea in Marshfield on Sunday morning, the Rev. John Carmichael conducted Mass from a stand of scaffolding at the front of a parking lot. Some parishioners watched from lawn chairs, but others sat in their vehicles. Eucharistic ministers, wearing masks, brought communion wafers from car to car.
In Boston, Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church has decided to wait until September to reopen, holding its services and events online. The Rev. Pedro Castro Jr. said the church has drawn a lot of interest online — thanks in part to a striking project in which the community has hung thousands of colorful prayer ribbons to commemorate each life lost to COVID-19 in Massachusetts.
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Castro said all those ribbons make clear the danger of a disease that has hit older people and people of color particularly hard.
“We would rather err on the side of caution, so we have decided to be very patient in waiting this out,” he said. “It’s just a smart thing to do. There is no vaccine.”
In the restaurant industry, many proprietors have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to reopen for indoor dining — though some remain concerned that it will be impossible for them to make their businesses work with dramatically reduced capacity.
The pandemic has been ruinous for many in the business. The Massachusetts Restaurant Association has said one quarter of the state’s restaurants may have to close permanently, and that only 20 percent had space for outdoor seating before the pandemic.
Some who were able to reopen during the outdoor dining phase say they’ve learned valuable lessons that they’ll bring to the next step.
“We were able to get a decent amount of outdoor space, and people are really liking it outside — what we have to offer,” said Kate Roche, owner of the Beacon Room in Orleans. She said her staff will benefit from having worked with people outside before moving indoors.
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Carey, of Finz and Sea Level, said it will be good to have indoor options in case of inclement weather. One blessing amid the challenges of the pandemic, he said, is that the weather throughout the outdoor dining period has been almost uniformly warm and clear.
“Every operator has been fortunate that the weather has looked down on us,” he said. “It certainly hasn’t been typical New England weather.”
Tony Barros, co-owner of a popular Cape Verde restaurant in Dorchester, Cesaria, said he was hoping to add indoor and outdoor dining soon but said the turnaround time was too quick to be ready for Monday.
The announcement was “out of the blue, just the last few days,” he said. Cesaria was in the process of replacing floors and touching up paint, and work was ongoing Sunday evening. Meanwhile, he is considering installing plexiglass between booths, moving around tables, and bringing back staff.
If everything goes as planned, they will be able to return to full capacity with the extra seating outside, but this is far from the end of the uncertainty, Barros said.
“Not even close. This is just the beginning.”
Jim Davis and Gal Tziperman Lotan of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Lucas Phillips contributed to this report.
Andy Rosen can be reached at andrew.rosen@globe.com.