Gov. Tony Evers on Monday announced a new emergency order allowing standalone or strip-mall based retail stores to offer in-person shopping for up to five customers at a time.
The order is effective immediately and also allows drive-in theaters to operate with some restrictions.
“Both customers and workers need to be confident in their safety, so we need everyone to be diligent in following best safety practices so we can continue to move our state forward while keeping our neighbors, families, and communities safe and healthy,” Evers said.
The order requires businesses to employ safe business practices and social distancing. Face coverings are strongly encouraged for all staff and customers.
Stores with an outside entrance are allowed to open, but they are required to close any entrances through a mall or an interconnected passage. Stores that rely exclusively on mall or interconnected passages may not open.
Stores are also required to establish lines outside their entrances to regulate entry with markings to indicate where customers should stand to remain six feet apart.
Alternatively, stores can use other methods like having customers wait in their car for a text or phone call or scheduling pick-ups or entry to the store.
Evers issued his “Safer at Home” order March 24, dramatically limiting the number of businesses that could be open in the state. He extended it May 26 but included some exceptions to allow certain businesses to open.
Those exceptions included allowing golf courses to operate along with certain aesthetic lawn and construction services done by a single person.
On April 24, Evers announced an order allowing businesses like dog groomers, small engine repair shops and upholstery businesses to open using curbside drop-off.
The entire Safer at Home order is set to run through May 26. Republican lawmakers challenged the order in court and the state Supreme Court heard arguments last week.
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