Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer stopped short of ordering limits, calling for voluntary compliance to slow Covid-19’s spread.
LANSING, Michael. Faced with the country’s highest rate of new coronavirus infections, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recommended a two-week suspension of in-person high school courses, all youth sports, and indoor dining.
She stopped short of ordering limits, calling for voluntary compliance to slow Covid-19 spread.
High schools should move to virtual learning, school and non-school community sports should be paused, people should prefer outdoor dining or takeout instead of indoor seating, and stop gathering indoor with mates, she said.
“To do this together. Lives rely on it,” Whitmer said at a news conference, urging people to be vaccinated. “We’re seeing tough weeks ahead. So I ask everyone—please take this seriously.”
DOMESTIC GOVERNMENT
The Democratic Governor also renewed her appeal for additional vaccinations from the federal government. President Joe Biden‘s administration would have additional money, not doses.
Around 40% of state residents aged 16 and older have been shot at least one vaccine, including 69% of those aged 65 and up. Michigan hospital chief medical officers said vaccines are more than 99% effective in reducing disease, hospitalization, and death. But they cautioned that variants are more infectious and lethal, sending more youth to hospital.
The State Health Department released guidelines strongly urging high schools to remain open to face-to-face training to participate in the state’s rapid coronavirus testing programme, recently mandated for adolescent athletes.
THURSDAY – CONORONA BLAST
As of Thursday, the U.S. had the worst amount of new Covid-19 cases during the past two weeks. Related hospitalizations had more than quadrupled in a month, representing 90% of a year ago’s statewide high, prompting some hospitals to delay non-emergency surgery. The average of new daily deaths has risen for two weeks.
“Because we see so many cases a day, our health system is exhausted,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s chief medical executive. “Many cases we can’t get details, nor can we recognise their close contacts.”
The governor opposed re-establishing past prohibitions such as a stay-at-home order or bans on indoor eating, in-person coaching, and youth contact sports criticised by Republican lawmakers. A mask requirement persists, as do power limitations and caps on sizes.
“We have less of a policy issue and more of an enforcement and variant issue we face as a state,” she said.
But she didn’t exclude potential limits, claiming nothing is off the table.
“I think it’s vital that people understand how dangerous this moment is,” she said.
Whitmer’s recommendation to briefly close high schools was mixed in educational circles.
The Michigan Education Association
The Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, urged similar action for lower grades, college population, and universities. But the Great Lakes Education Project, a DeVos family-linked organization, said children deserve “safely accessible classrooms.” Superintendents appeared irritated.
“Educators focused on doing what’s best for our students’ academic and social development. We rely on health experts to advise us on the best way to do it and any shift from that or presumption that educators alone will make such decisions in the wrong approach,” said Michigan’s K-12 Alliance executive director Robert McCann, a group of superintendents.
A restaurant industry association, open at 50% capacity, called the advice of the governor “misguided.”
Republican lawmakers who fought limitations said they were advised not to tighten them. Despite the surge, Jason Wentworth, House Speaker, said Whitmer should eliminate remaining restrictions and “trust this state’s people to do the right thing for themselves and their families.”
The Michigan High School Athletic Association said it will finish Friday and Saturday basketball tournaments for boys and girls. Spring sports are all outdoors and the spring season has the fewest contact sports.
“For the coming weeks, school districts will make local spring sports decisions based on local conditions and situations,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl wrote in a memo.
Covid-19 was related to nearly 17,500 deaths in Michigan, including 26 Friday. About 577,000 people had recovered last week.
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