LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Governor Gretchen Whitmer is announcing the first steps on how they hope to re-engage parts of the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.
During her press briefing on Monday, April 27, she unveiled the “MI Safe Start” plan which focuses on what workplaces and regions can reopen based on several factors.
In summary, the MI Safe Start plan, “will take into account the various sectors of our economy, geographic and work-place risk, as well as our public health ability and work-place protocols to mitigate that risk,” according to the governor’s official announcement.
The process will begin with workplaces that pose the lowest risk like residential and commercial construction. Whitmer says more specifics on which sectors will return to work first will be announced at a later time.
In addition, a new “Economic Recovery Council” is being launched to oversee the process of re-engaging certain workplaces. The council consists of both healthcare and business professionals from throughout the state ranging from the Health Officer for the Allegan County Health Department to UAW’s President Rory Gamble.
The decision on what areas will reopen when are based on pandemic risk per state region and how risky a specific workplace is, like if there are shared tools, little social distancing, etc.
The state has also been broken up into regions based on population and percentage of total coronavirus cases. Officials say the regions were determined by looking at travels to work and how healthcare is provided and reported on.
The MERC regions are as follows:
- Detroit Region- Population: 5,243,543 Percentage: 52.5%
- Grand Rapids Region- Population: 1,535,115 Percentage: 15.4%
- Kalamazoo Region- Population: 964,202 Percentage: 9.7%
- Saginaw Region
- Lansing Region
- Traverse City Region
- Jackson Region
- Upper Peninsula
Certain occupations are also being assigned a “risk score” based on worker interaction, workplace characteristics, worker type, etc. to determine where they rank on the reopening process.
“Stopping is simple, re-engaging is complicated,” Governor Whitmer said as she explained that there is a lot of work that needs to be done in order to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 and reopen the economy.
Last week the governor extended Michigan’s stay at home order until May 15th. She is also requesting that the state of emergency should also be extended for 28 more days.
At last reported on Monday, Michigan was at 38,210 coronavirus cases and 3,407 reported deaths.
Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun says the state is seeing a plateau in cases which is a good sign. She also reminded Michiganders that free online mental health services are available for all who are struggling during this pandemic. They can be found at michigan.gov/staywell.
For statewide information, go to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services website at michigan.gov/coronavirus.
