Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Wednesday discussed her recently announced coronavirus lockdown that will reportedly “temporarily halt in-person instruction at high schools and colleges, dine-in service at restaurants and bars, and high school athletics as well as close some businesses, including movie theaters, bowling alleys and casinos.”
Despite pushback from small business owners, Whitmer told CNN’s “New Day” the decision to enter the three-week shutdown is necessary to “combat the spread” before hospitals get overwhelmed and deaths spike. She also blamed the lack of strategy on the national level for having to close businesses such as restaurants.
“First, let me say, you know, the restaurant industry has really had a tough year because of COVID because there’s not been a national strategy and we have seen COVID just explode across the country in waves,” Whitmer outlined. “This is really driven by our epidemiologists and our public health experts that tell us it’s inherently dangerous with the kind of community spread that we have all across Michigan and all across the Midwest and, frankly, all across the country. The inherently dangerous situations are when you are inside with people from a different household or many different households for a prolonged period of time with masks off. That’s what happens in restaurants, and that’s why it’s really going to be critical that the feds get their act together and give us some stimulus support for these small businesses, for these restaurant workers.”
She continued, “I have incredible empathy for what [small businesses are] struggling with, and yet we have to follow the epidemiology, the public health experts and make decisions that combat the spread before our hospitals get overwhelmed and before we hit 1,000 deaths a week in Michigan because that’s what the modeling is telling us where we’re headed right now.”
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