Gov. Charlie Baker announced several new directives at a Nov. 3, 2020 news conference that take effect Nov. 6, including mandatory face-coverings regardless of whether social distancing is practiced. Photo by Sam Doran | State House News Service

Leaders of two business groups criticized Gov. Charlie Baker’s new public health orders issued yesterday which require restaurants and many other public-facing firms to close early.

Effective 12:01 a.m. Friday, the gathering limit will be reduced to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors; the Department of Public Health will issue a stay at home advisory that tells people to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. except to go to work or for essential purposes; casinos, indoor recreation facilities, theaters and other entertainment venues must close by 9:30 p.m.; restaurants must cease table service by 9:30 p.m.; and all non-medical cannabis and liquor sales must end by 9:30 p.m. Exemptions will be allowed for tenants to do non-public-facing work like stock shelves and work in laboratories.

Rhode Island and Connecticut have instituted similar measures in recent days.

The local arm of the National Federation of Independent Business was critical of Baker’s new orders and said the latest steps threaten to further diminish “an already fragile economy and hinder the state’s recovery.”

“It is unfortunate when businesses that worked hard for months dutifully complying with every state guideline, protocol, regulation, restriction, and mandate must now scale back. Just as the state unemployment rate has started trending in the right direction, a statewide rollback will certainly threaten those job gains,” NFIB State Director Christopher Carlozzi said. “Instead of penalizing businesses playing by the rules that are already experiencing a drop in customers and sales, the state should attempt to take a more targeted approach to curb the spread of the virus.”

The governor said his intention Monday was to announce measures that stop short of shutting businesses down while reducing “the number of opportunities and activities where people gather in groups and get them home with only members of their household.”

“The goal here is to say all this stuff that’s going on that’s indoors, that’s informal, that’s not masked, that’s close contact where people are sharing food and drink and a sofa is just exactly the wrong thing and it’s a big part of why a huge part of the growth in our trend has been in young people who fall into that category,” Baker said.

He added, “I think what we’re trying to say here is by 10 o’clock people should use their heads and be with the people they live with instead of continuing to perpetuate this constant churning of folks, especially in informal settings in places and spaces where there aren’t any rules and there isn’t any guidance and people aren’t adhering to any of the distance or mask rules that are effective at reducing the spread.”

Bob Luz, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, said restaurants are likely to see more early sittings, noting it’s “uncomfortable” to seat diners at 8 p.m. and expect them to be done by 9:30.

“Shutting restaurants down early doesn’t stop people from gathering,” Luz told Bloomberg Baystate Business Hour Monday afternoon, predicting people will gather instead in unregulated environments so “it actually in my mind potentially enhances the opportunity for this type of gathering.”

Restaurants stand to lose business in connection with two upcoming New England Patriots night games, Luz said, and the policies will also hamper the holiday dining season. “We’re talking about employees that have been ravaged,” he said. “And this is just, you know, another kick in the gut to them.”

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said Monday morning that he had spoken with Baker about the new orders and supports them “wholeheartedly.” The mayor spoke before the effect of Baker’s new orders was publicly known.

“Friday, my chief of health and human services Marty Martinez talked about the need, potentially, of rolling back restaurants in the city of Boston, the need for potentially having to roll back gatherings. We don’t want to go there,” Walsh said. He added, “Before we take drastic measures and shut everything down, we have to try and control this virus … what he’s announcing today I support wholeheartedly.”

Violating the governor’s new orders could lead to a fine and Baker said “local communities can enforce [the orders] with whatever means they feel is most appropriate.”

State health officials announced they had confirmed 2,431 new cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts over the weekend. The news follows roughly 1,000 new cases of the disease being reported every day for the last week totaling 12,719 cases, and the identification of 2,945 new clusters – representing two or more infections stemming from a common source – representing 8,208 confirmed cases between Sept. 27 and Oct. 24.