Despite urging from Republican leaders in the state legislature to open up all businesses, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said a slow restart to the state economy is needed to avoid a second round of COVID-19 cases.
The State House and Senate refused last week to extend Whitmer’s state of emergency declaration.
Whitmer said lifting her stay-at-home order too quickly would lead to more infections.
“If we open up too fast we will have to go through this pain all over again. Let’s not do that. I don’t think any one of us wants to put our medical system at risk and go through a stay home order again, so we all have to keep doing our part.”
Whitmer urged all Michigan residents to wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines. She said there has been a rapid increase in new Coronavirus cases on the west side of the state and in the northern lower peninsula.