The door is opening gradually, but it’s opening nonetheless.

After two months of being shut down, 8,300 COVID-19 cases and 440 deaths, D.C. will start a phased reopening on Friday, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced today.

“I call it stay-at-home lite,” she said, speaking at a press conference. “It means the restriction has been lifted and some activities have been added back. But they are minimal.”

The stay-at-home order from March 30 will be lifted, but gatherings of more than 10 people will still be prohibited. Social distancing rules and face coverings are still strongly recommended.

Restaurants will again be able to open to diners, but only to serve them in outdoor spaces, and with a maximum of six people per table, spaced at least 6 feet apart. They will also be asked to keep diners’ contact information in case an infection is reported.

Public parks, dog parks and tennis courts will again be accessible to the public, but playgrounds will remain off-limits to kids. Libraries and nonessential retailers will be able to offer curbside service, while barber shops and salons will be able to groom their customers — but only by appointment and with social distancing rules still in effect.

Health care providers will be able to resume elective procedures but only if they do not “unduly burden hospital capacity or COVID-19 resources.”

And while she offered no specific details, Bowser did say the city would start a process to “reimagine sidewalks and streets for restaurants, retail and recreation” as many other cities have. More details on what that could look like are expected on Friday.

D.C.’s first phase of reopening comes as city officials say they have met four broad metrics: a 14-day decline in the spread of COVID-19 and the overall rate of transmission; enough hospital beds to handle a surge in cases; the ability to test priority groups; and increased capacity to conduct contact tracing of new infections.

There have been concerns raised about some of the metrics and whether D.C. is actually meeting them, specifically the 14-day decline. But Bowser insisted on Tuesday that she had “no interest in cooking the books” and added Wednesday that the metrics for judging whether the city was ready to reopen “haven’t changed” in recent weeks.

But Bowser also noted that reopening — even the “lite” version she outlined — runs the risk of increasing COVID cases. Because of that, she stressed that people should continue taking precautions when they go outside.

“Every single one of us has a role to play. It’s critical that people wear masks, social distance and practice good hygiene. We have a shared responsibility to stop the spread of the virus,” she said. “If we don’t take them seriously, we risk losing the progress we’ve made with our shared sacrifice.”

City officials say testing capacity has increased in recent weeks. The city will open a new public testing site downtown on Monday. Including all private labs and clinics, officials say 5,500 people can be tested for COVID-19 on a daily basis. And Bowser said that as reopening proceeds, more people should get themselves tested.

“More people are going to be feeling exposed because they are coming out of their house,” she said. “As we go into Phase 1 we recognize that more people are going to be moving around and should get tested.”

As for the weeks to come, D.C. guidance says moving into the next phase of reopening will happen when there is only “localized transmission” of the virus. However, Bowser said going back to a full shutdown isn’t necessarily likely. Rather, targeted closures or openings will be used, depending on data.

“We can turn our lifting of restrictions up and down,” Bowser said. “If the health data required it we could turn down some activities or turn them up.”