With Michigan’s COVID-19 number of cases remaining relatively low, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said on Wednesday that the state may soon reverse some of its restrictions.
“We hope to make more announcements about additional re-engagements in the coming days,” Whitmer said at a news conference on Wednesday. “Our public health case numbers and metrics are trending in the right direction. I am very happy to see that. I am feeling very optimistic. “
A possible adjustment could involve restrictions on visitors to nursing homes, Whitmer said. At the moment, visitors must be tested for COVID-19 and cannot visit them if the facility has had a new case in the past two weeks. The changes could be announced next week, Whitmer said.
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The internal meeting limit is another potential change, said Whitmer. Currently, residential meetings are limited to 10 people from a maximum of two families. One concern, however, is that these meetings were a big part of the spread of COVID-19 in the fall, she said.
Residential meeting limits are also much more difficult to enforce compared to closing companies.
Whitmer has not pledged to allow bars and restaurants to open with greater capacity in the near future. The current limit is 25% of the total capacity, together with the closing time at 10 pm. Business leaders have lobbied Whitmer to ease these restrictions.
“They want to go to 50% and think it can be done safely. And I understand that. That’s what I hope to hear, ”said Whitmer. “I am hopeful that we will eventually reach that point. But right now, we’ve been at this for just a few weeks, we have to keep looking at the data. “
The ban on eating in restaurants was lifted on February 1 in Michigan and the new restrictions were expected to last three weeks.
But Michigan quietly adhered to the restrictions for another six weeks, just three days later, on February 4, when it announced the resumption of contact sports in high school – annoying many restaurant owners.
Whitmer was asked on Wednesday whether she intentionally kept the extension silent.
“I was a little surprised by the reaction, to tell you the truth,” said Whitmer. “Anyone who has watched only casually in the past 12 months knows that we tend to have a cadence of about three weeks. We make a change, see how it’s going, look at the data, report the data, make changes along the way … And this is no different in this case. “
Michigan did not normally extend the restrictions until the last few days before a planned expiration date. Whitmer usually announces changes at his regular press conferences and they are noted in state press releases. Nor did it happen for the February 4 extension.
When restrictions are eventually eased, they are likely not to be fully removed. The downward trend in numbers may be encouraging, but state leaders are concerned about 314 cases of a variant of COVID-19 found in 19 Michigan counties.
“It’s a dial, not a light switch,” said Whitmer. “If we are taking a step, they will be incremental – as have all of our re-engagements been, so that we don’t contribute to a big spread.”
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