Whitmer may tighten rules to stop coronavirus spread
Paul Egan
LANSING – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer indicated Wednesday she has no immediate plans to move the state backward in her six-phase reopening plan, but wants to tighten rules aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus, such as mask-wearing requirements.
Whitmer has scheduled a Thursday morning news conference as coronavirus case numbers continue to climb, amid speculation she plans to tighten restrictions on parts or all of the state.
On Wednesday, the state reported 610 new coronavirus cases and 10 more deaths in the past 24 hours.
That is the highest number of daily reported cases since late May, and it brings Michigan’s total COVID-19 cases to 67,237 and total deaths to 6,015. The average age of those infected has been trending younger and the number of daily deaths is down considerably from the early days of the pandemic, in March.
In recent days, the Grand Rapids area has been moved to high risk for coronavirus cases, while Detroit has moved to medium high risk. The risk levels of geographic regions don’t necessarily correspond with where those regions are placed on the economic reopening plan. Currently, all of Michigan is in Phase 4 for reopening, except for the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, which are in Phase 5.
“People are starting to drop their guard, and it’s very concerning,” Whitmer said Wednesday night during a Facebook Live event with Fox 2 Detroit.
She said that under one of her executive orders, it is state law that Michigan residents must wear masks indoors in public places, but many people don’t seem to realize or be complying with that. That could be tightened up, she said.
“Masks are an easy, low-cost way of protecting ourselves,” Whitmer said. “If we’re masked up, we can continue to do ... things safely.”
In addition to reinforcing the mask requirement, “we are seriously looking at other actions we can take — not going back to Phase 3, but tightening up in Phase 4, so we don’t have to.”
She expressed concern whether schools will be able to safely resume with in-person learning in eight weeks, if present trends continue.
Whitmer noted some states, such as California, are now requiring mask wearing in outdoor public spaces — not just indoors — when social distancing is not an option.
Surges in cases have been seen across the country and some governors have been closing bars, restaurants and other businesses that had earlier been allowed to reopen.
Whitmer spokeswoman Tiffany Brown would not comment Wednesday on whether any new restrictions are pending in parts of Michigan.
Whitmer said June 30 that further restrictions on the economy might be needed, if cases continued to trend upward. On July 1, Whitmer closed indoor bar service at nightclubs and other establishments that primarily serve alcohol, except for Up North, where indoor bar service could continue. In southern and central Michigan, Whitmer restricted bar service at certain bars to outdoor only, while indoor service was allowed to continue at restaurants that also serve alcohol.
During an appearance Tuesday on CNN, Whitmer expressed disappointment over videotaped scenes of young people celebrating the warm weather in close quarters, without masks, in Muskegon and Cass County. She called for a “national mask-up campaign,” led from the
White House.
Though moving backward is “the last thing any of us want,” Whitmer said she is “not going to be bullied into moving (forward with further reopening of the economy) before it is safe, and if we need to move back, we’re going to.”
Earlier, Whitmer said she hoped to be able to announce that south and central Michigan could join northern Michigan in Phase 5 of her reopening plan ahead of the July 4 holiday. But on June 30 she cited an increase in coronavirus cases across the state in saying southern and central Michigan would remain in Phase 4 and there was a potential for it to move backward, to Phase 3.
She said the rates of positive tests and hospitalization would be factors she would weigh in making a decision.
Whitmer has extended Michigan’s state of emergency — which gives her the power to order various businesses closed or subject to restrictions — through July 16, and she is expected to further extend the state of emergency beyond that date.
The state of emergency order should not be confused with the stay-at-home order, which Whitmer lifted June 1.