More than half of the country goes into first weekend with loosened coronavirus restrictions

For the first time in weeks, residents in some states across the country can dabble in semblances of some weekend routines after governors began easing restrictions put in place to combat the novel coronavirus.

That might mean going to a movie in Georgia, working out with a personal trainer in Colorado or dropping by a dispensary in Nevada -- with restrictions for spacing and sanitation.


More than 30 states have begun easing social distancing restrictions -- ranging from opening state parks to allowing some businesses to restart.

Some of those states have let stay-at-home orders expire, with caveats restricting what businesses can open, and how. One such state, Georgia, still requires the elderly to stay home until June 12.

Other states and counties will ease restrictions starting Monday.

Gyms and fitness centers will reopen in Arkansas on May 4, while hair salons will follow May 6.

In Northern California's Yuba and Sutter counties, restaurants, tattoo parlors and shopping malls will be allowed to open Monday, which will also be the first workday for many offices in Colorado, with operations limited to 50% capacity.

In Montana, bars and breweries will also be allowed to provide some in-establishment services starting Monday.

According to current plans, more than 40 states will have eased restrictions by May 10.

The changes come even as experts warn that lifting measures now could be deadly.

"You're making a big mistake. It's going to cost lives," Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician and disaster preparedness specialist at Columbia University Medical Center, told CNN Friday.

In a report, Redlener and Joseph Fair, a senior fellow in pandemic policy at Texas A&M University, said no city or state should begin to reduce restrictions until coronavirus infections have been steadily decreasing for 10 days to two weeks, and not until enough tests are available to track just how many people really are infected.

"We implore you to do everything in your power to make sure we have the testing and contact tracing we need to move forward safely.

Until we get there, it is inappropriate and dangerous to reopen local businesses," Redlener wrote in a letter accompanying the report.

But the country continues to lag behind in testing and months since the beginning of the outbreak is still unable to perform the millions of tests that economists and public heath experts said last month will be required before measures can be safely lifted.