Late phase business reopenings on hold in Mass.

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — As the state’s COVID-19 infection rate continues to drop, many businesses that are part of the later stages of Phase 3 or Phase 4 are asking when they will be allowed to reopen.

“You can go to the health club to get exercise, but you can’t […] skate for a couple hours or an hour,” said Rob Gould, owner of Interskate 91 in Wilbraham.

Gov. Charlie Baker paused the state’s reopening after cases began to spike due to large gatherings and parties in numerous cities and towns.

Businesses that are part of Phase 3 Step 2, including trampoline parks, roller skating rinks, arcades and other entertainment venues who thought they would be cleared to reopen in early July, are asking what it will take for the state to allow them to open.

At Boston Bowl in Dorchester, every other lane is open, but billiards and its extensive arcade are closed.

“As far as we’re concerned we’re a family-center, safety first. We can survive as long as we do this right,” said general manager Michael McBride.

Related: Coronavirus metrics may be improving, but Gov. Baker continues to hold off on reopening the state

His business has lost about 25% of its sales due to the closure of the arcade and billiards rooms.

Gov. Baker was asked if he would consider resuming the state’s paused reopening given the low positive test rate, which, as of Monday, was 1.1%.

“I think we’re going to pretty much stay where we are,” Baker said. “Our primary focus at this point is the college’s reopening, whether it’s remote or kids coming back to school, and with the k-to-12 school reopening.”

In Somerville, Urban Axes said it should have been able to reopen, but the City of Somerville did not allow it and hasn’t explained what’s needed to reopen.

“Were just looking for feedback from the city on what exactly we need to do,” said Krista Paton, a member of the Urban Axes ownership group.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Joe Curtatone said the following in a statement to Boston 25 News:

“We know the past few months have been hard on our small business community, but we want to make sure they can reopen as safely as possible and in a sustainable way that doesn’t result in a spike in cases and new shutdowns. We have been and will continue to work with businesses in Stage 3 to keep them informed and establish guidelines that will eventually help them to have safe reopenings.”

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RESOURCES:

- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information

- Boston Coronavirus Information

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