The reopening of the economy and loosening of coronavirus-prompted restrictions remain uneven and varied throughout the U.S. as governors watch case numbers and weigh caution against desires to ramp up business in their states.
Texas, Oklahoma, and Montana are among those newly allowing restaurants to reopen. Malls, movie theaters and other venues are reopening in several states. Some states have outlined phased reopenings - North Carolina's governor said he hopes to start such a process after this week if virus trends allow.
Some states, including epicenter New York, are moving more slowly, with restrictions in place at least until May 15. In California, some counties have announced their reopening in defiance of an ongoing stay-home order.
And some states never issued stay-home orders at all.
At least 100 million Americans were in states making assertive moves to reopen, or had no stay-home orders to begin with, according to an Associated Press tally. Meanwhile, states home to more than 210 million were taking more gradual steps or didn’t appear close to reopening.
Here is a look at where states stand on reopening.
NEW MOVES:
TEXAS: The stay-home order expired Friday, and restaurants, malls and movie theaters can reopen at 25 percent capacity with social distancing. Counties with five or fewer reported coronavirus cases have looser occupancy rules. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has said restrictions may be relaxed further in two weeks depending on testing results. Beaches and state parks are open. Bars, gyms and hair salons remain closed.
SOUTH CAROLINA: The stay-home order lifted Monday as South Carolina let outdoor restaurant dining resume. Parks, beaches, malls, hotels and clothing stores have reopened. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster said up next are hair salons, gyms and other close-contact businesses.
FLORIDA: Restaurants and shops could reopen at limited capacity Monday across Florida, except for three hard-hit counties. State parks reopened with social distancing rules. Gyms and salons remain closed. Schools will stay closed for the rest of this school year.
TENNESSEE: After allowing many restaurants and retail stores to reopen last week, salons and other close-contact stores will be allowed to resume Wednesday. The state has released guidelines on safely reopening, but officials acknowledge Tennessee won’t enforce such measures.
OKLAHOMA: Restaurant dining rooms, bars serving food, gyms and churches began welcoming back customers last week under social distancing and sanitation guidelines, following the earlier reopening of barbers and hair and nail salons. Employees, including church staff, are required to wear masks. Church daycares are not yet allowed to open.
MONTANA: Restaurants, bars and casinos began reopening Monday with increased sanitizing, limited crowds and servers donning masks. Churches and retailers opened last week, and a stay-home order was lifted except for vulnerable populations including the elderly. Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock is allowing schools to reopen Thursday, but many districts already canceled in-person classes for the year.
UTAH: Restaurants, gyms, barbers and nail salons began reopening Friday. Distancing and mask requirements were in place for employees and some customers in urban Salt Lake County. Schools are closed for the academic year. Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has said churches will likely be among the last places to reopen.
COLORADO: Offices deemed nonessential were allowed to reopen Monday with reduced staff. The move follows the April 26 expiration of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis’ stay-home order. Current restrictions allow curbside retail and real estate showings. On May 1, retail stores and personal services were allowed to reopen with social distancing rules.
OHIO: Since Friday, most health care offices could reopen and retailers could begin offering delivery and pickup services, along with by-appointment visits for 10 or fewer customers. Distributors, manufacturers and builders restarted Monday with mask and social distancing requirements. Gyms, bars, restaurants, barbershops, salons, and movie theaters remain closed under Republican Gov. Mike Dewine’s order.
ARKANSAS: Gyms reopened Monday with social distancing and other restrictions. Barbershops, tattoo parlors and hair salons can reopen Wednesday, but with similar restrictions on capacity and additional screening requirements. Restaurants can reopen dining rooms next Monday, but only at a third of their capacity.
MISSOURI: Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s stay-home order ended Sunday, allowing businesses and religious events to reopen Monday. Some businesses, such as restaurants, must follow social distancing guidelines. Locally imposed stay-home orders remain in the St. Louis area through mid-May.
WEST VIRGINIA: Republican Gov. Jim Justice on Monday allowed the reopening of small businesses, barber shops, nail salons, and church and funeral services. Restaurants can allow outdoor dining. The move includes restrictions and is contingent on the state’s positive virus test rate staying below a threshold. In subsequent weeks, offices, hotels, casinos, restaurants and other remaining businesses could reopen.
MORE GRADUAL:
MICHIGAN: Construction, real estate and more outdoor work can resume Thursday under Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s latest order. Many businesses will remain closed, including casinos, bars and gyms. Restaurants are limited to pickup and delivery. Schools are closed for the academic year except for distance learning. Though auto plants haven’t reopened, automakers and unions are in talks about restarting.
ARIZONA: Small retailers reopened Monday with curbside, delivery or appointment-based services. They will be allowed to welcome customers inside with social distancing starting Friday. Gov. Doug Ducey otherwise extended his stay-home order until May 15. He’s working with restaurants on how to eventually reopen dining rooms safely, but there’s no set timetable.
KENTUCKY: Health clinics, dentists and optometrists have reopened. Next Monday, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is also allowing broad resumption of manufacturing and construction work, along with horse racing at Churchill Downs without spectators. Restrictions on car dealers and pet groomers also lift next week. Later in May, he plans to reopen more retailers and let churches resume in-person worship.
NORTH CAROLINA: The stay-home order, including business restrictions, remains until Friday, after which Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper hopes to begin a phased reopening. He said Monday that decisions on the pace of reopening depend on key metrics including trends in positive cases and hospitalizations.
IDAHO: Child-care centers were able to reopen May 1 under the first phase of Republican Gov. Brad Little’s phased plan. Churches can also reopen, with distancing and sanitation rules. Bars, gyms, salons, movie theaters and sporting venues remain closed. Restaurants can still offer curbside and delivery service.
INDIANA: The stay-home order was lifted Monday for most of the state, while Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb allowed more manufacturers and retailers to reopen. In-person restaurant dining and hair salons remain closed for another week. And gyms, movie theaters, bars and casinos remain closed until at least late May. Holcomb says he hopes to restart nearly all activities by July 4.
KANSAS: The stay-home order expired over the weekend, replaced with Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s plan for a phased-in reopening of the economy through June 15. Restaurants can open for dine-in service so long as they observe social distancing and keep groups of more than 10 distanced from others. Bars, gyms, fitness centers, hair salons, barbershops, nail salons, and tattoo parlors are not allowed to reopen until May 18.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The stay-at-home order remains until May 31, with the restricted reopening of restaurants, hair salons and other businesses throughout the month. Hair salons, barber shops, retail stores and drive-in movie theaters also can reopen on May 11, but with restrictions. Restaurants, currently limited to takeout and delivery, can offer outdoor dining starting May 18.
PENNSYLVANIA: Golf courses, marinas and privately owned campgrounds can reopen, and construction work can resume. On Friday, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf plans to lift his stay-at-home order, reopen many retailers and ease other restrictions in the least-affected parts of the state. Wolf says the shutdown can be loosened in a county or region once virus trends hit key benchmarks.
RHODE ISLAND: Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo has consistently said she hopes to lift the state’s stay-at-home order May 8 so she can start a phased restart of the economy. The first phase includes opening some state parks or beaches, allowing hospitals to perform elective procedures and other easing of restrictions, all with social distancing still in place.
NO STAY-HOME ORDER:
WYOMING: Starting May 1, some businesses — barbershops, cosmetologists and tattoo parlors — were allowed to reopen. Only one jurisdiction, Teton County, which includes the Jackson Hole tourist enclave, enacted a stay-home order, which is now lifted. Other counties seek more lenient restrictions that could allow outdoor restaurant dining. Schools remain closed.
NEBRASKA: Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts loosened restrictions Monday in most of the state, allowing salons, tattoo parlors and dine-in restaurants to reopen with limited capacity. Restaurant employees must wear masks. Day cares will be allowed to have up to 15 children per room. The loosened restrictions will be expanded to 10 more counties on May 11.
IOWA: After loosening business restrictions across most counties, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said Monday that virus trends will dictate how soon she does the same in the remaining counties, which include urban areas. Church services have been allowed to resume statewide.
NORTH DAKOTA: Gov. Doug Burgum on Friday allowed most businesses to reopen with precautions but kept large-scale venues closed until further notice. Burgum also announced Friday that North Dakota schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year.
SOUTH DAKOTA: Republican Gov. Kristi Noem did not order any severe restrictions, instead asking people to observe social distancing and avoid groups larger than 10. Still, Noem last week issued a “Back to Normal” plan that advised businesses to open their doors while taking precautions to keep people spread apart.
NOT ANYTIME SOON:
CONNECTICUT: Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont plans a multiphased reopening, starting May 20. That’s when outdoor restaurant dining, in addition to existing takeout, will be allowed. Barring virus flare-ups by then, Lamont also hopes to reopen -- with added precautions -- salons, outdoor zoo and museum exhibits, camping and other outdoor recreation, and university research programs.
CALIFORNIA: Three Northern California counties have reopened in defiance of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ongoing order to stay home. Two counties north of Sacramento reopened Monday with social distancing in place and restrictions on how many customers could be in businesses and restaurants. They followed the step taken Friday by a rural county in far Northern California. There are other pockets of resistance throughout California, with restaurants and hair salons now operating after a month of forced closure. Some are flouting recommendations to stay separated entirely.
NEW YORK: The statewide shutdown order expires May 15. After that, while New York City is the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed letting some less-affected upstate regions begin phased reopening once they’ve met criteria key virus markers. Some upstate hospitals have been allowed to resume elective surgeries, but they must maintain a certain threshold of open beds for emergencies. Schools are closed through the academic year.
ILLINOIS: The stay-home order lasts through May 30, and with it, schools remain on remote-learning status and nonessential businesses are closed. But as of May 1, nonessential businesses could fill phone and online orders. Some nonelective surgeries may resume, and many state parks are open for hiking and fishing. Face-coverings are mandatory for public places where social distance can’t be maintained.
NEVADA: Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak extended a stay-at-home order until May 15 and says he may allow the reopening, on that date or sooner, of many nonessential businesses. But he said bars, casinos and shopping malls would likely stay shuttered. Sisolak is still deciding whether he will allow restaurants, barber shops and salons to reopen in mid-May with other businesses.
MASSACHUSETTS: Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has set a date of May 18 to begin gradually reopening in Massachusetts, which is under a stay-at-home advisory. Baker has warned that the economy won’t be “off to the races” that day. He said phased-in reopening plans are being considered by a 17-member commission and will include social distancing and cleaning protocols for businesses.
MARYLAND: Republican Gov. Larry Hogan says a gradual reopening will depend on downward virus trends. Last month, Hogan said he was hopeful Maryland could begin the first phase of reopening businesses in early May, but he hasn't elaborated on a time.
WISCONSIN: The stay-home order runs until May 26, but Republican legislative leaders are pressuring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to reopen faster. Republicans also are asking the state Supreme Court to block the latest order and force Evers' administration to bring lawmakers into the decision-making. Evers’ phased reopening plan requires 14-day improvements in certain key virus trends that have not been met.
NEW MEXICO: Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham extended the stay-home order until May 15 but has begun modest moves to reduce business restrictions, recently allowing curbside and delivery operations for nonessential businesses, opening golf courses and some state parks, and allowing firearm sales by appointment.
DELAWARE: Democratic Gov. John Carney has given no indication when he might lift restrictions, despite protests and pressure from GOP lawmakers. He has indicated that he will look closely at virus trends.
MAINE: With a safer-at-home order lasting through May, restrictions were lifted May 1 on golf courses, many state parks and visits to dentists, barbers and hairdressers. Restrictions are set to lift for restaurants, lodging and camping June 1.
