Island restaurant and hotel owners reacted with frustration Monday after Gov. Charlie Baker announced his ultra-slow reopening plan for the commonwealth, with many worrying about having to stay closed for the Memorial Day weekend and wondering when they would receive more guidance from the state.

With a statewide stay-at-home order set to expire at midnight, the governor outlined the first baby steps of a slow, phased reopening process for the state Monday, as coronavirus cases begin to see declines.

On the Island cases remained steady.

“We’re playing this game, and it’s a real one, with the virus and the economy at the same time,” Governor Baker said at a much-anticipated press briefing Monday. “And it’s really important for people to step up, and recognize, and understand that this game is not over.”

Striking a cautious tone, Governor Baker said starting Monday, manufacturing facilities, construction and houses of worship would be allowed to reopen immediately, with severe restrictions. But most non-essential businesses will stay shuttered until at least May 25 or later, leaving question marks for Island restaurants and hotels as Memorial Day weekend fast approaches.

Some business owners on the Vineyard expressed dismay and disappointment, including Michael Santoro, an Oak Bluffs selectman who owns the Lookout Tavern and Fishbones restaurants in Oak Bluffs, as well as The Net Result in Vineyard Haven. Mr. Santoro described the governor’s plan as “beating around the bush” and said he wished the governor had released guidelines keeping restaurants and hotels closed earlier in the month.

“I’m very disappointed,” Mr. Santoro said. “I know what he [the governor] is doing. He’s doing this to prevent people from coming to the resort areas for Memorial Day weekend. And I get it. But I’d rather him be up front and say that instead of this.”

He said it would be difficult to plan for the coming weeks without any sense of how the governor planned to limit capacity at restaurants and allow for outdoor seating, or other restrictions regarding phase two businesses.

Diane Carr, general manager at the boutique Hob Knob Inn in Edgartown, said she was happy that hotels were included in the second phase of the reopening rather than the third phase, but echoed Mr. Santoro’s feelings of confusion about the guidelines, especially with the start of summer approaching. Ms. Carr also serves on the Edgartown board of trade.

“Memorial Day is a big weekend. We are usually full,” Ms. Carr said. “I feel badly for all of us in that boat, because we don’t know anything. We really don’t know more than ‘you’re going to find out soon.’ And that’s it.”

According to the four-phase plan the governor detailed Monday, retailers will be allowed to open for curbside service starting May 25. Hairdressers and salons, as well as car washes, will be allowed to reopen as well, with appointment-only service following strict social distancing protocols. Enforcement of the regulations is left to local boards of health and health agents.

But the opening of restaurants, lodging and hospitality businesses, nail salons and day spas, as well as camp grounds and youth sports, will all have to wait until the second phase of the reopening — meaning many businesses on the Island will remain closed come Memorial Day and beyond. Governor Baker said each phase of the reopening would last for a minimum of three weeks, and it could be longer depending on public health data and hospitalization metrics.

“With respect to the time frame around this . . . that is going to be a function of the data,” Governor Baker said. “The move to a next phase is going to be a function of a review of how we’re doing in the phase that we are in.”

Massachusetts has been one the hardest-hit states in the country with Covid-19, ranking third in the top five states for the number of confirmed cases per population size, behind New York and New Jersey and ahead of Illinois and Michigan.

In one week, office spaces will be allowed to open at 25 per cent capacity, and hospitals were given the green light to provide preventative care, pediatric care and treatment for high risk patients effective immediately. Officials at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital previously described their plans to re-open certain parts of the facility by June 1.

The first phase of the plan also offers guidance on beaches, parks and other outdoor recreation throughout the state. Beaches are allowed to open immediately, but ball games are banned and all beachgoers must maintain a 12-foot distance between parties. On the Vineyard up-Island beaches, such as Lucy Vincent, Philbin and Lambert’s Cove, have already limited parking. Other non-contact athletic complexes, like tennis courts, are allowed to open, as long as there is no shared equipment.

The state stay-at-home advisory has been rebranded as a safer-at-home advisory. Governor Baker described the differences as basically semantic, with the recommended regulations and guidance for the state remaining largely the same. Gatherings are still limited to 10 people or less, and people over 65 years of age are still encouraged to stay at home unless shopping for groceries or receiving necessary medical treatments.

“This is something no one has ever done before — shutter, and then reopen everything,” the governor said. “I ask everyone to keep this in mind.”

On Monday the Vineyard entered the second phase of its relaxation of construction guidelines on Monday, allowing 10-person crews to work on jobsites. Island towns had instituted a stricter version of the governor’s non-essential business closure in early April that put a stoppage on all construction work. Towns have slowly phased in work over the past month, allowing first for two-man crews, then five-man crews, and now the most recent 10-man crews.

At the Edgartown selectman’s meeting later Monday afternoon, town administrator James Hagerty said the governor’s reopening plan left many question marks for local businesses, especially those on Main street.

He also said the town hall wouldn’t be open to the public anytime soon.

“A lot of moving parts after the governor released his plan earlier today,” Mr. Hagerty said.

“I think every town is still trying to digest it.”

Meanwhile, the hospital and Island boards of health reported no new cases on the Island Monday. The hospital has tested 685 people for the virus since the outbreak began, with 25 positives, 659 negatives and one pending. The total case count Islandwide is 31, with 27 laboratory confirmed cases (two from testing off-Island) and four presumed positives as a result of antibody tests.

No one is currently hospitalized with the virus.

Home page picture, Coop de Ville, by Albert O. Fischer.