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Governor Whitmer says waiting period needed for reopening various industries

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After easing restrictions for industries like landscaping and construction over the past two weeks... Governor Gretchen Whitmer said the state will need to have a waiting period before making decisions about other industries going back to work. 

Governor Whitmer announced last week construction could begin again on May 7th. She said now the state will study if cases of COVID-19 begin to increase again when some sectors of the economy return to work.

“It’s really important that between each of these moments where we reengage another sector that we have some time go by so we can assess. Is COVID-19 starting to rise in a particular area again, or not? Is it safe to turn the knob for the next step?” 

Whitmer said the ideal time for watching a re-introduced industry, would be two weeks, the outer limit of the incubation time for COVID-19. But she says the time could be shorter for other industries in parts of the state with lower risk. 

The state’s Economic Recovery Council will work with scientists from the University of Michigan to determine risk ratings for different industries.

Abigail Censky is the Politics & Government reporter at WKAR. She started in December 2018.