Lansing, MI — In a press conference yesterday, Governor Whitmer pled with Michiganders to realize the seriousness of the rise the state is seeing in COVID-19 cases. “We have seen a steady rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. We are now at our peak when it comes to daily new cases – this peak is higher than the peak we saw in April, ” she said.
Whitmer displayed a graph demonstrating the correlation between actions taken by her administration to mitigate COVID-19 and the number of cases reported in the state. According to the graph, cases began to rise when the Governor rescinded the Safer at Home order and moved the state to phase four of the MI Safe Start Plan on June 8th and again when K-12 public schools began to reopen. Cases have been rising since schools were reopened and have continued to rise since the Michigan Supreme Court struct down Whitmer’s EOs at the beginning of October.
In light of the current data, Governor Whitmer urged people to continue following recommendations even if they are not mandated or enforceable. “At the end of the day, we don’t need an executive order or a court to know what we need to do in this moment. The good news is that we know what it’s going to take. We’ve done this; we crushed the curve in the spring…when we wear a mask, when we maintain six feet of physical distance, when we wash our hands frequently. I also encourage you to get a flu vaccine, and make sure your kids get one too,” said Whitmer.
Reporting for WGRT – Jessie Wiegand
