(WXYZ) – Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer provided an update on the state’s response to COVID-19 on Friday morning, announcing the expansion of outdoor stadium capacity.
She announced that outdoor stadiums could increase capacity to 20%, meaning that about 8,200 fans could be at Comerica Park to start the season.
Related: State expands capacity for outdoor stadiums by 20% before Opening Day
Whitmer is also encouraging everyone to be vaccinated when it is their turn, as everyone aged 16 and over becomes eligible for vaccination on April 5.
Related: Detroit Tigers will welcome around 8,200 fans with mandatory masks, capsule seats and more rules
“You will have a summer, a summer of fun ahead of you, if we can all be vaccinated. We can do that,” she said.
Dr. Khaldun said “very worrying data” shows that the state is going in the wrong direction
“We are not out of danger yet,” she said.
Case rates in Michigan are now at 173 cases per million and have been increasing in the past four weeks. They increased 77% across all age groups, but those between 10 and 19 years old saw the biggest increase.
Related: Michigan seeing increase in COVID-19 cases; 5th highest rate in the US last week
Related: The current rate of coronavirus cases in Michigan is increasing, now similar to last October
Earlier this week, the MDHHS said Michigan’s case rate is now similar to that of mid-October last year, about a month before Michigan closed some things in mid-November.
Related: Officials warn Michigan that it may face another outbreak of the COVID-19 case
The state also has the second highest number in B.1.1.7. – the UK coronavirus variant – in the country.
There have been more than 13,000 new cases registered in the past week, according to state health officials. The state’s positivity rate is now 5.2%.
Michigan and Minnesota are standing out in the midwest as having peaks, while neighboring states are either stabilizing or seeing a decline in new cases.
While cases are on the rise, the state said more than 3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered, and nearly 25% of Michiganders aged 16 and over have received at least one dose.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
See one global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See the full coverage in our Coronavirus continuous coverage page.
Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we work to help people financially affected by the coronavirus. We have all the information about everything that is available to help you in this crisis and how to access it.