Hingham Officials Waiting On State On Business Reopening Guidance

HINGHAM, MA — While there are expected to be strict guidelines for any businesses that reopen in town following the expected expiration of the state's stay-at-home order on Monday, exactly what those guidelines will be has been a source of confusion and aggravation among business owners who would like to open their doors as soon as possible.

Hingham town officials said this week that they have received many of those inquiries and are awaiting the state guidance before passing it along to businesses.

"We expect to receive guidance from the governor's Reopening Advisory Board early next week," Hingham officials posted on social media on Thursday. "Once our local reopening team has worked through that guidance, they will reach out to Hingham organizations about reopening requirements, inspections and compliance procedures."

Gov. Charlie Baker has said that businesses that have no or minimal face-to-face interaction with the public will be first to open — suggesting that most restaurant and retail operations might not be allowed to open on Monday — but he has been resistant to answering specifics when it comes to which businesses can and cannot open in his news conferences this week.

That Hingham is not even expecting the guidelines until early next week suggests many businesses will have to wait a little longer to put things in place to restart their operations.

"Thank you for your patience," Hingham officials said. "We need to approach this transition in a gradual, safe and responsible way."