News Bite

Two Or More People Meet Outside Homes, Not Wearing Masks, Subject To $1,000 Fine

An exception would be if the two people were swimming together, but even then a face mask is ‘strongly encouraged’

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services director Robert Gordon has defined a “gathering” in Michigan as “any occurrence, either indoor or outdoor, where two or more persons from more than one household are present in a shared space.”

The definition empowers the state to regulate gatherings of any two individuals who are not from the same household, with a failure to abide by the rules punishable by civil fines of up to $1,000. This implies that two friends who are not wearing face masks and walking together (not six feet apart) in a empty park would be subject to state-imposed penalties.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services imposed a new and more restrictive set of coronavirus restrictions on business and schools on Oct. 29.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.