Whitmer To Extend Stay Home Order On Thursday

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has repeatedly stressed that Michigan has not yet reached its peak for COVID-19 cases. As a result, she will be signing an order Thursday lengthening the stay home order that was set to expire Monday.

“We’re all making a sacrifice to be home and I know it’s hard; it’s really important that we continue do that. Precisely how long the order will take effect for, you’ll have to tune in tomorrow to see,” she said in an interview Wednesday with Mikenzie Frost of Sinclair Broadcasting Group.

Whitmer said at a Monday press conference that she was looking at a new order sometime this week. At least 316 million people in at least 42 states, three counties, nine cities, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are under stay home orders, according to the New York Times.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Michigan has 20,346 COVID-19 cases and 959 deaths. Michigan has the third-most cases in the nation after New York and New Jersey.

“I think it’s always important to always stop and reflect that each of these numbers is a person; it’s a Michigander who has a story and has a family that can’t mourn the way that we’re used to mourning because they can’t get together safely,” Whitmer said on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. “And so, as we are making these extraordinary decisions in this extraordinary time, I think it’s very centering to come back and remember really what’s happening.”

EO 2020-21 went into effect on March 24. As the Advance first reported, Whitmer crafted the order after consulting with epidemiologists from University of Michigan, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Under the executive order, individuals temporarily need to stay at their place of residence. All public and private gatherings elsewhere have been prohibited.

Individuals may only leave their house for outdoor activities (while maintaining a 6-foot distance from others); performing tasks that are necessary to their health and safety, like picking up medications or addressing a medical emergency; and to obtain necessary services or supplies, like groceries, take-out food, gasoline, etc.

In-person work is only for industries deemed “necessary to sustain or protect life.” Both Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have since issued clarifications, including which businesses are permitted. On Monday, another executive order that closed bars and restaurants except for takeout is set to expire.

“At the end of the day, it’s really about people and the incredible hardworking people on the front lines — whether the grocery store clerks putting food on the shelves or the nurse or the doctor or the respiratory therapist or the janitor sanitizing all these spaces, trying to make them clean for people,” Whitmer said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of sources of inspiration out there and people who remind us what it’s all about.”

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Director Robert Gordon has since issued an emergency order setting a fine of up to $1,000 for violating three of Whitmer’s orders, including the stay home order.

Whitmer also signed EO 2020-36 that prohibits employers from retaliating against employees from staying home from work if they or one of their close contacts tests positive for COVID-19 or is symptomatic. It also declares that the public policy of the state is that all Michiganders who test positive or show symptoms, or who live with someone with either of those attributes, should not leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.

Individuals who test positive or experience the main symptoms of COVID-19 must stay home for three days after their symptoms have resolved, and for seven days after they were swabbed for the test that yielded a positive result. Close contacts of individuals who have tested positive or are symptomatic should stay home for 14 days, or until the symptomatic individual receives a negative COVID-19 test.

Whitmer has declared a state of emergency and state of disaster in Michigan. On Tuesday, the House and Senate held sessions — the Legislature is not subject to the order — and rejected her request to extend the emergency for 70 days. Instead, they passed by voice votes a measure extending it 23 days until April 30.

Many members were missing amid health concerns and recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to only go out over the next two weeks in an emergency and avoid assemblages.

Business groups lobbied against the stay home order. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) are calling for businesses to reopen, despite recommendations from top federal and state health officials. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) on Tuesday announced a workgroup on the subject.

This story was originally published by the Michigan Advance. For more stories from the Michigan Advance, visit MichiganAdvance.com.