LANSING, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, with Michigan’s medical executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, is again appealing to Michigan residents to reconsider Thanksgiving plans for the health and safety of themselves and others. They called for a wide, unified response to the growing number of COVID-19 infections and deaths.
At a press briefing Thursday, Whitmer acknowledged that Michigan residents are tired and frustrated with the restrictions and limitations, adding “we have to take this threat seriously, especially by wearing a mask.”
On Thursday, November 19, state officials reported more deaths, statewide, now a total of 8,324. Whitmer said hotspots include Grand Traverse County and Kent County, where the percentage of people testing postive is close to 14 percent. Spectrum Health, which tests thousands of people daily, had a 7-day averag of 18.6 percent postive as of Thursday. Health professionals say a managable rate for COVID-19 is a three percent positive rate.
Khaldun reminded those present that the symptoms of the flu and COVID-19 are extremely similar, but COVID-19 is 10 times deadlier than the flu. She asked people to avoid traveling for the holiday, unless they were dropping off food at a loved one’s home — without going inside. Small indoor gathering s are being blamed for the latest spike in the coronavirus rates, which has consistently broken records in November.
“Bad decisions made at Thanksgiving means people will be mourning the deaths of their loved ones by New Years,” Khaldun said. State officials are working with hospitals and health care providers to get the two promising vaccines that may be available by the end of this year distributed quickly, but only if the data, science and national experts support distributing it in Michigan. Even then, she said, health care officials will be on the lookout for any problems that may have been missed in the rush to produce and deliver vaccines.
Most people in the general public won’t have access to the vaccines until at least spring, she said,
Whitmer said everyone is at risk for getting the virus. Small sacrifices, like wearing a mask and skipping a holiday gathering, are small prices to pay for the overall health of the community, she said.
Allegan County is a good example of how quickly the spread of the virus is happening. On November 1, county health officials reported just seven deaths since mid-March. As of Thursday, a dozen more county residents have died after getting the virus, a total of 19 for the county. Allegan’s rolling daily average number of people testing positive for the virus is close to 100.
Kalamazoo County, which has more than twice the population of Allegan, has seen 149 residents die from the virus.
Dr. Matthew Hornik, president of the Michigan chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said young people and teens are getting COVID-19 at ever-increasing numbers. He asked parents to make sure they wear makes and ensure children do too. He noted that lead screening and childhood vaccine rates are dropping, but each play key roles in helping children stay healthy and identifying lead-related issues.
Dr. Khaldun and Hornik said people have several options for helping blunt COVID-19’s spike:
- download the state’s contact-tracing app
- get a flu shot, which will reduce your chances of getting the coronavirus, as well as getting hospitalized for either illness
- donate blood — especially if you have recovered from COVID-19.
- get tested if you feel sick
- stay home if sick, or if you know you’ve been exposed to the virus, to protect others
- wear a mask
- get physicals for yourself and your children, as well as other needed wellness care
- take care of your and your children’s mental health and — either by getting professional help, or downloading an app called HeadSpace
- take breaks from the news
- get adequate sleep
- eat a healthful diet
- avoid having negative conversations in front of children
- keep teens from separate households separate — they are among those spreading the virus to others
Asked about getting the curve down to three percent by the end of the year, Whitmer said she believed it’s possible if people follow the recommendations, adding that any downward movement “is good news.” Now? It’s uncontrolled community spread, she said, which is “inherently dangerous.”
Whitmer cited Europe and Israel as places where governments are successfully setting restrictions to limit the viral spread. Whitmer criticized federal lawmakers and President Trump, for lagging on getting a bipartisan COVID-relief package approved.
“The President has spent more energy spreading untruths about the election outcome than he has listening to health experts and protecting the American people,”she said. She joined other governors in writing an appeal to members of Congress in both parties, including Senate Major Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, as well as Democratic Senate minority leader Sen. Chuck Shumer and Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy, “urging them all to take swift action to pass a COVID-19 relief bill that meets the scale of this crisis.”
She invited leading Republican state lawmakers, Sen. Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield, to join her in signing the letter, “but they declined.”
Federal support is essential for Michigan’s economic recovery, she said, and that includes unemployment relief. During the worst of the first surge, three million Michigan residents applied for unemployment — and more than 600,000 Michiganders are still on unemployment. Federal support for the unemployed, she said, is “imperative,” because the current CARES Act is set to expire, putting those 600,000 at risk. Eighty percent are benefiting from CARES Act funds, set to expire on December 31, 2020. She is also asking Michigan lawmakers to extend her executive order to provide unemployment for people who lost jobs as a result of the pandemic — benefits that are also set to expire on December 31. Whitmer said it should be “one of the first orders of business when the legislature returns from their hunting break.”
She said, despite promising news of vaccines, they won’t halt the pandemic by January 1, 2021. Unemployed people need help to put food on the table and pay heating bills through the winter.
Whitmer said she’s looking forward to seeing the Republicans’ COVID-19 plan after the Thanksgiving break. State lawmakers “can move very quickly, when they want to,” she said, adding that she welcomes their efforts.
Whitmer encouraged people to shop local and consider shifting out-of-state spending back to Michigan. Just a 10 percent shift in retail spending, she said, would create an infusion worth an estimated $1.2 billion to small businesses and families. Small businesses have opportunities to get some help from the state.
“There’s nothing more Pure Michigan than supporting our small business here at home,” she said.
Some small business owners joined Thursday’s press conference: Gabriel Jones and his father Bryan Torok, co-owners of the Lansing-area-based Smoke ‘N Pig
They talked about being agile while working through the early weeks of the pandemic, crediting the restaurant’s survival to the support of loyal customers and fellow small-business owners as well as the grants and low-interest loans from the state’s small-business assistance program and the payroll protection program. a
Kendra Patterson, who co-owns Michigan Barn Wood & Salvage with her husband Trevor, reminded those listening and watching the online livestream that small businesses won’t survive the pandemic without support in the form of sales.
“Tempting as it is to shop online,” she said, the result is what no one wants: empty storefronts on downtown streets. Far from being a small business run by a young couple, she noted that their downtown Mason shop, which included a custom design-and-build service, also hosts booths for 75 area artisans.
The news that Republican state lawmakers were invited to the White House — possibly in a bid to overturn the results of the November 3 election and give the state’s electoral college votes to President Trump — didn’t seem to phase Whitmer, who reacted by saying she hopes they “wear masks and stay safe.”
Nothing, she said, would change the fact that Joe Biden won Michigan by over 150,000 votes, 14 time more than the number of votes President Trump drew from Michigan in 2016. The will of the people, she said, must be reflected by votes from the electoral college.
What lawmakers need to focus on now, she said, is COVID-19 relief.
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