Gov. Gretchen Whitmer opened her Monday afternoon press briefing by addressing critiques of her latest stay at home order, which extended shelter in place until May 1 to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The order was extended on Thursday, April 9, but frustrations about its limitations boiled over in the past couple of days.
"It became clear to me this weekend that there are a lot of people who, understandably, are really worried about whether or not we're ever going to get past this moment. And we are," said Whitmer. "I know that there's a worry that maybe it's three weeks and then another three weeks and another three weeks. And this will go on and on. We will get past this. We will get through this. This is not a permanent moment."
The governor faced criticism from Michigan's Republican Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and U.S. Rep. Justin Amash. They all said Whitmer's order goes too far and needs more exceptions.
While those Michigan leaders were weighing in on the order, a Facebook group called Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine gained steam with over 282,000 members.
"Every decision that we're making is based on the best science, the facts that we are confronting as a state, and I will say that I understand the frustration that people have. I'm frustrated. This is hard," said Whitmer.
One of the main complaints about the stay at home order is that it mandated large stores to close garden centers and landscapers are not classified as an essential workforce.
"I recognize that there are a lot of passionate gardeners in Michigan and I heard from a lot of you," said Whitmer. "And we need to recognize that peak retail season in Michigan is still a few weeks away with the cold weather."
The governor also acknowledged that plant wholesalers are asking to be able to care for their plants, but she said the state's main concern right now is keeping everyone safe.
Whitmer also used the start of her briefing to address some claims that were circulating over the weekend, including one shared by The View host Meghan McCain that the sale of car seats has been banned.
"First and foremost, I want to be clear nothing in the stay at home order prohibits people from buying car seats for your children. There's no prohibition on that," the governor said.
Whitmer also urged people to be vigilant about what they see on social media, and cleared up a few of the other falsehoods. "You can buy bug spray. You can buy American flag. I have not banned homeschooling," she said.
A drive-in demonstration has been planned for Wednesday in Lansing to protest Whitmer's stay at home order. The demonstration is being called a gridlock, meaning protesters are asked to stay in their cars, but block traffic in the state's capitol.
Whitmer said she just asks that those who are protesting the order do so safely, so that they don't get sick or put first responders at risk.
COVID-19 in Michigan
On Monday, Michigan exceeded 25,000 cases of COVID-19 and recorded a total of 1,602 deaths. The number of new cases is starting to slow down, with the daily total being less than 1,000 on Sunday and Monday, for the first time since March 29.
Whitmer said the state is "cautiously optimistic" about the slower rate, saying more data is needed to determine if it is a trend. "But this is something that I think you can see that the stay at home order is working," she said.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said that there are early signs that cases are starting to plateau in Michigan, but she emphasized there are still a lot of cases and deaths being reported every day.
"While this is hard on everyone. I want to be clear, keeping up on social distance and measures too soon, would be incredibly devastating. A lot more people will die. And our hospitals will get overwhelmed if we don't do this right," said Khaldun.
The majority of the cases are presenting in the metro Detroit area, but nearly every county in the state is reporting at least one case of coronavirus. Because of a lower rate in rural areas, Whitmer has been asked if certain regions could be opened earlier.
She repeated again that COVID-19 does not observe geography.
"I've heard from leaders in a lot of the rural parts of our state who've reached out and asked that we continue to make sure that we are very conservative in our effort to educate the public about how serious this threat is," Whitmer said.
State and local leaders are concerned about a rural area's ability to treat an outbreak of coronavirus with less hospitals and health care facilities.
"At this stage we can't make exceptions for some people in the state to get back to work. We will get to that point, but we are not there yet," said Whitmer.
The state will get to a point where it can reopen, the governor said, but health officials have not said said it's safe to do so. Whitmer also cautioned about lifting the stay at home order too quickly to avoid another wave an a month or in the fall.
"There's nobody who would rather be able to push a button and just return to life as normal, but no button exists," she said.
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