Whitmer and Biden refuse to fight surging pandemic in Michigan For the seventh week in a row, K-12 schools were the number one source of COVID-19 outbreaks in Michigan, followed once again by manufacturing and construction job sites. Yet Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer continues to refuse to order schools to go virtual and nonessential workplaces to close. Michiganders caught COVID-19 at a rate of over 7,000 per day over the last week, numbers not seen in the state since last Thanksgiving, the peak of the fall/winter surge. The number of confirmed cases Tuesday hit 10,277, the highest daily number of the pandemic to date. The state continues to lead the US with 72.9 new cases for every 100,000 residents. The next highest state-wide case rate is 41.7 in New Jersey.