Restaurant owners can open up dining capacity to 100%, but many think itâs too soon On Friday, Gov. Hutchinson announced that the capacity directives placed on restaurants, gyms, salons, indoor and outdoor venues were being lifted and converted to public health guidelines. In other words, a restaurant can now fill up to capacity in spectacular pre-pandemic fashion. But weâre still in a pandemic, with a largely unvaccinated workforce of servers and front-of-house staff facing the public. The governor said the mask mandate will stay in place through at least March 31, and he emphasized that the change in terminology â from directives to guidelines â does not mean that we should see drastic changes in behavior. In terms of businesses, he said, âTheyâre incentivized to follow the guidelines because it gives them business liability protection.â Meanwhile, a bill was passed in the Arkansas Senate that would return fines to businesses that were found to have violated the COVID-19 restrictions. It still has to pass through the House and the governor said he wouldnât sign it if it does.