Kaytie Boomer/The Bay City Times via AP Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during a press event providing an update on the state’s COVID-19 response at Dow Diamond on Thursday in Midland, Mich.

MIDLAND — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the further loosening of COVID-19 restrictions in the state, with all broad orders on masks and gatherings being lifted by July 1, she announced at a news conference Thursday.

Starting June 1, outdoor events will not have capacity limits. Indoor events, such as weddings and graduation parties, can have crowds of up to 50%. The 11 p.m. curfew for restaurants and bars will also be lifted.

On July 1, all remaining capacity limits will be lifted, and even unvaccinated people will not be required to wear masks. While there may be targeted orders to protect the vulnerable, barring unforeseen circumstances the large-scale orders will end there, Whitmer said.

“We look at this as the last moment of these types of orders,” Whitmer said. “We will be able to sing at church, dance at weddings, cheer at games, hug each other and laugh together. I know that that is welcome news to so many.”

Whitmer began shifting from her previously announced “Vacc to Normal” metrics, which tied stages of reopening to percentages of vaccinated state residents, last week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines stating that fully vaccinated people did not need to wear masks or physically distance inside or outside. Whitmer had announced rollbacks to mask requirements, but left capacity limits in place.

The hybrid approach had left some people confused, Whitmer said; by mirroring the CDC guidelines, she hoped to give people clarity.

“it just became very clear that it was important for us to give people sure dates and confidence that we can be safe doing this,” she said.

The state had already hit the first milestone, a 55% vaccination rate. That triggered a two-week countdown on the expiration of orders requiring businesses to have people work from home when feasible. The order will be lifted Monday. On that day, the state will also provide more detail on COVID-19 workplace safety, Whitmer said.

Even if fully vaccinated, people should continue to wear masks in classrooms, while playing indoor contact sports, or while in residential care facilities, health care facilities, public transportation or other indoor congregate settings such as jail or migrant worker shelters, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said in separate guidance Thursday afternoon.

Before the updated CDC guidelines, Michigan would have lifted the emergency order after 70% of residents 16 and up had been at least partially vaccinated. As of Wednesday, 56.8% of eligible people in the state had received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Rates in the Copper Country lag behind the state average. Ontonagon County is the highest at 55.2%, followed by Keweenaw (53.5%), Houghton (46.3%) and Baraga (40.6%).

Whitmer called on those who have been vaccinated to talk to unvaccinated people they know about the importance of the vaccine. While unvaccinated people can go maskless after July 1, is is still the “smartest policy” for them to wear a mask indoors, especially if they are around people from outside their households.

At least one motivational tool was ruled out. A lottery for newly vaccinated people such as the one being launched in Ohio would violate Michigan law, Whitmer said.

The Copper Country largely escaped the March/April surge that pushed Michigan to the top of the country in COVID cases and deaths.

Still, Houghton County, like the rest of the state, has seen a continued decline in cases. As of May 13, the seven-day average of daily new cases was at 66.7 per million, the lowest rate seen in the county since Aug. 26. The rate has been declining steadily since April 8.

Baraga County has the area’s highest rate at 386.2 per million, down by about two-thirds from recent May 4 peak of 904. Ontonagon County was flat at 143.6 cases per million. Keweenaw County was at 134.1 million, but did not have enough cases in the past two weeks to determine a trend, according to the state’s MI Safe Start dashboard.

The 4.8% positive rate in Houghton County is also well below the state’s 8.4%.

Statewide, the seven-day average of new cases has dropped by more than half in the past two weeks.

Individual businesses and workplaces may still require masks after the order lifts. Whitmer called on people to support businesses as they navigate those choices, and called for people to avoid “shaming or guilt-tripping” vaccinated people who go maskless or those who prefer to keep wearing masks.

“There will ultimately come a day when masks will be distant memories, maybe in boxes in our basements, but until then, we’ve got to transition back to normalcy together and give each other some grace,” said Whitmer, who is fully vaccinated and went without a mask for the news conference, held at Dow Diamond in Midland.