Gov. Whitmer: ‘Stay Home’ Order Is Working. Here’s What’s Next.

The number of people in Michigan hospitalized by COVID-19 has dropped 32% over the last two weeks.

“It’s a dramatic difference that this ‘Stay Home’ order and the actions that the people of our state have taken have contributed to saving lives.” — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

As these numbers decline, Whitmer has begun to ease some restrictions in the “Stay Home” order. Even with this decline, Michigan still has the one of highest confirmed case numbers in the country. 

Listen: Governor Gretchen Whitmer on her plans to re-open Michigan. 

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says the drop in COVID-19 cases is significant and is a result of collective co-operation.

“All of these, as we’ve built these up, are going to be very important in keeping people safe until there is a vaccine or a cure.” 

“It’s a dramatic difference that this ‘Stay Home’ order and the actions that the people of our state have taken have contributed to saving lives. We’ll never know precisely how many, but we do know that it has worked. And when you see that curve flatten that much, you’ve got to recognize that everyone played a part — or the vast majority of people have played a role in making that happen,” says Whitmer.

While optimistic, Whitmer says that the coronavirus will be an issue in the state for the foreseeable future. As she looks to engage certain sectors of the economy, the governor says it will be important to mitigate the risk of a COVID-19 spike in the future. “We are going to have to be nimble,” she says.

Testing will be a big factor in the state’s re-opening strategy. The governor says that Michigan is currently ramping up testing and preparing a workforce trained in contact tracing. “All of these, as we’ve built these up, are going to be very important in keeping people safe…until there is a vaccine or a cure,” says Whitmer regarding testing and contact tracing.