Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases across the state Governor Gretchen Whitmer held a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Many Michiganders wondering if there’s going to be more lockdowns.
Despite criticism from outside the state, Governor Whitmer is not changing her strategy. No more new restrictions, she is not tightening down on the state, just asking people to be safe and get their vaccine.
“Get vaccinated to keep you and your family safe,” Gov. Whitmer said in the press conference.
Michigan is seeing the worst COVID-19 numbers of the pandemic.
“This week we surpassed the COVID-19 cases and hospitalization rates that we saw in the fall,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun.
In the past, when the numbers spiked, Whitmer clamped down with executive and epidemic orders. Now, she refuses to. Simply saying policy changes won’t work but vaccines will.
“Michigan still have some of the strongest protocols in place,” said Whitmer, “Capacity restrictions, we’ve got a mask mandate. Other states have dropped all of these things, we still have them in Michigan and yet we have high positivity.”
Maybe her fiercest rival in Lansing agrees. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey tweeted, “I applaud Gov. Whitmer for resisting the tremendous pressure to lock down our state and trusting Michiganders to do the right thing.”
During her press conference, Whitmer added an endorsement of powerful therapies that can help clear hospitals.
“These monoclonal antibodies are an incredible treatment that has recently been endorsed by the National Institute of Health,” said Whitmer, “That we want to deploy in Michigan.”
Whitmer did not discuss the current epidemic order calling for that mask mandate and capacity limits. It is set to expire on April 19 with no word on if it will be extended or modified.
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