Michigan Halts Indoor Dining, In-Person High School, College for Three Weeks

Governor Gretchen Whitmer held a press conference yesterday announcing that Michigan will ban indoor dining and in-person high school and college for three weeks beginning this Wednesday. Cases continue to rise and "We are in the worst moment of this pandemic to date," Whitmer told a televised news conference. "The situation has never been more dire. We are at the precipice and we need to take some action."

All indoor events at many venues, concert halls, theatres, sporting venues, casinos, bingo halls and skating rinks are temporarily banned. The Governor stressed that without this action, the state could lose 1,000 residents a week from the pandemic. That would be almost three times the number of Covid-19 deaths in the week ended Friday. They have also ordered all organized sports stop except professional and some college during the three-week period.

Thanksgiving will be different this year, as the Governor urged residents not to hold gatherings with extended family. Our daily record for reported coronavirus cases in Michigan on Friday was 8,516 new cases. The state to date has reported 251,813 COVID-19 cases and 7,994 deaths. This new State Health Department action is not a blanket stay-at-home order.

US News reports:

The Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association estimated more than 40% of the state's restaurants would close, at least temporarily, if dining rooms were closed, about 250,000 state restaurant employees would likely be laid off over the holiday season. The group said it was "profoundly disappointed" by the decision to close restaurants in Michigan a second time.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey said Republicans are “disappointed that Governor Whitmer chose to go it alone, again.”

Scott Atlas the White House coronavirus advisor said on twitter “The only way this stops is if people rise up. You get what you accept.”

Obviously, everyone has an opinion. But opinions don’t stop Covid-19 from spreading. Smart coordinated steps with all of us following the guidance of experts is the safest route to go. Nobody wants to deal with this virus anymore, we’re all tired of it and the pain it’s causing. But Covid-19 doesn’t care, if we don’t continue to take strong steps to stop it, the growth of this virus will continue at an alarming rate. It already is.