ICYMI: Here’s Gov. Whitmer’s Update On The State’s Response To COVID-19
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer held a press conference Thursday providing updates on the state’s response to COVID-19.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an Executive Order Thursday to extend Michigan’s Stay Home, Stay Safe order to May 28. Under this order, Michiganders still must not leave their homes except to run critical errands, to engage in safe outdoor activities, or to go to specified jobs.
The governor’s order will allow manufacturing workers, including those at Michigan’s Big 3 auto companies, to resume work on Monday, May 11 as part of her MI Safe Start Plan.
After announcing that Michigan’s manufacturing workers will return to work on Monday, May 11, Whitmer detailed the six phases of her MI Safe Start Plan to re-engage Michigan’s economy.
The phases of the pandemic include:
- UNCONTROLLED GROWTH: The increasing number of new cases every day, overwhelming our health systems.
- PERSISTENT SPREAD: We continue to see high case levels with concern about health system capacity.
- FLATTENING: The epidemic is no longer increasing and the health-system’s capacity is sufficient for current needs.
- IMPROVING: Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are clearly declining.
- CONTAINING: Continued case and death rate improvements, with outbreaks quickly contained.
- POST-PANDEMIC: Community spread not expected to return.
Whitmer announced Michigan is in Phase Three as of May 7.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced additional positive cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This brings the state total of COVID-19 cases to 45,646 and 4,343 deaths as of Thursday at 3 p.m. EST.
More updates:
- Pfizer announced the first participants have been dosed in the U.S. in a clinical trial for the BNT162 vaccine program to prevent COVID-19 infection.
- More than 2,700 businesses around Michigan were awarded a total of $10 million in Michigan Small Business Relief Program.
- DHHS announced that close to 90,000 low-income college students in Michigan who are enrolled in career or technical education programs are eligible to receive food assistance benefits effective this week.
May 4 Press Conference Updates
MDHHS Chief Deputy for Health and Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun also provided an update on COVID-19 in Michigan. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson joined the governor at the press conference to speak about the May 5 elections.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson joined the governor at the press conference to speak about the May 5 elections
May 5 also marks 8 weeks since the crisis began in Michigan.
Here’s Whitmer’s updates:
- Because of the hard work of the state’s procurement office, private donations, businesses and workers who have stepped up and donations from the federal government, Michigan now has enough PPE to last hospital several weeks.
- Suspended tax foreclosures and evictions
- Expanded access to child care
- Futures for frontliners
On Monday, Whitmer signed an executive directive creating the Michigan COVID-19 Office of Accountability within the state budget office.
Friday, May 1 Press Conference:
The governor says her number one priority as the state works to re-engage sectors of the economy is Michiganders’ health and safety. She reiterated the Stay Home, Stay Safe order remains in effect until May 15.
Whitmer’s signed an Executive Order to reopen construction and real estate safely. The executive order will allow the May 7 resumption of some types of work that present a very low risk of infection, including construction, real-estate activities, and work that is traditionally and primarily performed outdoors.
- Under this order, Michiganders still must not leave their homes except to run critical errands, to engage in safe outdoor activities, or to go to specified jobs. The order also requires businesses to adopt measures to protect their workers against the spread of COVID-19.
Construction sites must adopt a set of best practices to protect their workers from infection. Those practices include:
- Designating a site supervisor to enforce COVID-19 control strategies.
- Conducting daily health screenings for workers.
- Creating dedicated entry points, if possible, or issuing stickers or other indicators to assure that all workers are screened every day.
- Identifying choke points and high-risk areas (like hallways, hoists and elevators, break areas, water stations, and buses) and controlling them to enable social distancing.
- Ensuring sufficient hand-washing or hand-sanitizing stations at the worksite.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced additional positive cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This brings the state total of COVID-19 cases to 42,356 and 3,866 deaths as of May 1 at 3 p.m.
8,342 people have recovered in Michigan from the coronavirus as of April 24.
RELATED LINK: Coronavirus In Michigan: Here’s An Updated List Of Positive Cases
As of Wednesday, April 29:
- On Monday, Whitmer began laying out priorities for re-engaging the economy under the MI Safe Start Plan.
- Whitmer stated her number one priority remains the same: the health and safety of Michiganders and their families.
- On Friday, Whitmer said she plans to sign an executive order to open both residential and commercial construction by May 7.
- Whitmer’s administration created the Child Care Relief Fund to provide direct, non-competitive grants to child care providers.
- Whitmer’s administration is expanding the work share program to help employers retain their skilled employees.
- Whitmer sent a letter Wednesday calling on Congress to support Sen. Gary Peters’ Heroes Fund to provide hazard pay for frontline workers.
Here are Whitmer’s updates from the April 27 press conference:
- She signed an executive order to establish strategies to reduce exposure to Covid-19 for both customers and employees.
- She signed an executive order that extends validity of existing personal protection orders that would otherwise expire during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Her administration and Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, in partnership with the Small Business Association of Michigan and the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants announced Monday that businesses across Michigan are now able to apply for an additional $310 billion in Paycheck Protection Program Forgivable Loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration.
- Adults in Michigan have continued to find health insurance via The Healthy Michigan Plan.
Whitmer announced MI Safe Start which is a plan to re-engage Michigan’s economy.
- MI Safe Start Plan will take into account the various sectors of our economy, geographic and work place risk as well as our public health ability and work place protocols to mitigate that risk.
- MI Safe Start Plan will be incremental starting with work place types that pose less risk.
- The residential and commercial construction industry for example will likely be one of the first sectors to return to work.
- Her administration is carefully evaluating a number of industrial sectors for restart.
- Whitmer will be back at a future date to discuss her thinking on these sectors further.
Businesses will need to protect their employees through:
- Carefully monitoring employees for symptoms
- Instituting an array of social distancing techniques in the workplace
- Strengthening sanitation and hygiene
- Providing recommended protective equipment like masks and face shields
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