As virus surges, Michigan leaders say people should stay out of restaurants
Updated Apr 09, 2021;
Posted Apr 09, 2021
Drinks sit on a table at a downtown Kalamazoo restaurant on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. (Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com
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Despite Michigan leading the nation in new COVID-19 cases per capita, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday that Michigan is not shutting down restaurants again.
But Whitmer and Michigan’s Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun are strongly discouraging indoor dining – leaving restaurant industry leaders feeling bittersweet.
“Infectious disease and public health experts across the country have been quite clear that indoor dining is one of the riskiest things you can do during this pandemic,” Khaldun said. “And with the numbers that we are seeing now, we simply do not recommend it.”
The calls were suggestions, however, and not mandates sought by some health experts as cases soar and hospital beds fill amid Michigan’s third coronavirus wave.
“This is a team effort. It s on all of us to do our part by masking up and getting vaccinated to protect ourselves and our families, so we can get back to normal,” Whitmer said. “Let’s get it done.”
Whitmer also asked the administration of President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, to send Michigan more doses of the coronavirus vaccines, a request that has not been accepted.
Instead, she said the White House offered more therapeutic supplies, personnel and other things but not additional vaccines.
Dave Boucher and Susan Selasky
Detroit Free Press
If a measure recently approved by every Republican in the Michigan Senate and supported by the state restaurant industry were currently law, it would almost assuredly require every eatery in Michigan to immediately cease indoor dining because of COVID-19.
This comes as Michigan remains the largest pandemic hot spot in the nation with nearly every COVID-19 trend heading in a dangerous direction.
The bill and pandemic surge still put Republicans and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at odds, but seemingly on unfamiliar sides: Whitmer is defending not instituting more stringent regulations despite terrible pandemic trends, while GOP senators voted for a measure that would enforce restrictions they have vehemently opposed.
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The claim: Michigan election bills are “designed to make it easier for people to vote”
Republicans in Michigan’s Senate recently unveiled a massive package of proposals to change election laws that they say will improve voting security and integrity, and boost voters’ confidence in the election process.
They’ve also pitched their reforms as expanding voting access.
“This package is designed to make it easier for people to vote and ensure our elections are conducted fairly and honestly,” state Sen. Michael MacDonald, R-Macomb Township, said in a statement, echoing similarclaims from other Republican lawmakers.