COVID News Week in Michigan – Everything You Need to Know

It’s been a busy week for COVID-related topics in Michigan, from debates about another shutdown to the rapid filling of hospitals to another six months of workplace restrictions.

If you have had trouble keeping up or just want a refresh, we have a breakdown of all the major COVID-19 topics below.

Everyone wants to know if Michigan will close again due to the increase in total cases. As Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the medical executive director for Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday, the state case and positivity rates they are five times bigger than two months ago.

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But Gretchen Whitmer Government insisted throughout the week that his administration did not intend to impose additional restrictions beyond those already in place. These include rules covering meetings, restaurant capacity limits and masks.

MORE: Michigan still doesn’t issue new COVID-19 restrictions – that’s why

On Monday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made it clear he thinks Michigan needs to close.

“The answer to that is to close things down, go back to our basics, go back to where we were last spring, last summer, and close things down to flatten the curve,” Walensky said.

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When Whitmer gave her briefing on Wednesday, her position had not changed.

“Right now, we know that the tools at our disposal that can most dramatically improve outcomes for people in this state are vaccines, and that’s why we’re moving so fast to get people vaccinated,” Whitmer said.

The governor’s position is essentially this: she believes that the spread of COVID-19 can be slowed down by the rules that are already in place. She believes the problem is a combination of non-compliance, more contagious variants and reservoirs of people without antibodies.

RELATED: Why Whitmer Says Low COVID Rates in Michigan at Early Pandemic Contribute to Current Rise

Last week, she asked Michiganders not to dine indoors at restaurants, participate in youth sports, or gather with people from other households for two weeks. But these will remain recommendations, not rules, she said.

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Dr. Nick Gilpin, medical director of infection prevention for Beaumont Health, spoke Thursday about the hospital’s capacity and agreed with Walensky.

“If you look back at our previous growths, what’s the difference?” Gilpin asked. “The difference between the first increase we experienced is that there were restrictions in the community to limit the size of the assembly and limit the activities inside, which we know are very effective ways of transmitting the coronavirus. I saw her in March and April last year. We saw it in the fall and winter months in Michigan and both surges, I think, we curved, in part, because of active restrictions. ”

When asked directly if he thinks Michigan needs to close, Gilpin said he believes Michigan needs more restrictions to combat this growth.

“I think so, we need to have a certain level of commitment to restrict some of these activities in the community,” Gilpin said.

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Whitmer wants the federal government to bring additional vaccines to Michigan because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 here. But that is not part of the national vaccination plan.

READ: Whitmer demands that additional vaccines be sent to the “COVID hotspot” Michigan

“There are different tools we can use for different times when there is an outbreak,” Walensky said. “For example, we know that if vaccines go in our arms today, we will not see an effect of these vaccines, depending on the vaccine, somewhere between 2 and 6 weeks.

“I think if we try to get vaccinated to get out of what’s going on in Michigan, we’d be disappointed that it took so long for the vaccine to work to have an effect. Similarly, we need that vaccine elsewhere. If we vaccinate today and we will have an impact in six weeks and we don’t know where the next place that will grow will be “.

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Andy Slavitt, interim administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, agreed.

“We have to remember that in the next 2-6 weeks, the variants that we saw in Michigan – these variants are present in other states,” said Slavitt. So our ability to vaccinate people quickly in each of these states, rather than taking vaccines and switching to the whack-a-mole game, is not the strategy that public health leaders and scientists have established. a.

The other big news about the vaccine this week is that Michigan will follow FDA and CDC recommendations temporarily discontinue Johnson & Johnson.

Of the 6.8 million people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine nationwide, officials identified six women who developed a rare blood clot thereafter, according to experts.

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“Out of an abundance of precautions, we are following FDA and CDC recommendations and discontinuing the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Michigan,” Khaldun said.

Even though these cases of blood clots are extremely rare – only six out of 6.8 million – experts are investigating just to be sure.

For now, any Michigander scheduled to receive a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine should proceed as planned, and anyone who should have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should either reschedule or receive one of the other brands, officials said.

Michigan extended COVID rules to the workplace which were already in force and are in force until 14 October.

The six-month extension means that any employees who can work feasibly from home should do so to reduce the chances of COVID-19 spreading.

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READ: Does COVID workplace regulations in Michigan mean that employees cannot return to personal work?

Personal work is allowed for jobs that cannot be done elsewhere, but distance work is highly recommended.

Businesses in person must maintain a written COVID-19 training and response plan and provide in-depth training to employees. That training should cover infection control practices in the workplace, how to use personal protective equipment, steps for notifying the company of COVID-19 symptoms and how to report unsafe working conditions.

Federal officials have announced extended unemployment benefits will no longer be available for Michiganders after this week. They will officially expire on Saturday.

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These benefits expire because the state unemployment rate has fallen below the required threshold. Extended benefits come into force when the total unemployment rate is on average 6.5% or higher for three consecutive months.

The U.S. Department of Labor has notified the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency that the program will no longer be payable after this week. UIA officials have begun announcing the 16,000 applicants who are currently receiving extensive benefits about the end of the program.

The extended benefit program provided an additional 13-20 weeks of benefits for people who have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits and other extensions.

Michigan officials said the state paid extended benefits of about $ 419 million as high unemployment rates triggered the program.

Gilpin said most of Beaumont’s hospitals are very close to capacity. They are expected to reach their ceiling soon.

“It’s tight,” Gilpin said. “Every day, each of our sites meets very actively to see what they can do to create space.”

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Beaumont Health Chief Health Officer Susan Grant said Thursday morning (April 15th) most Beaumont hospitals have a capacity of 90% to 95%.

During Michigan’s second hiatus this winter, Beaumont cared for more than 700 COVID-19 patients in its eight-hospital system, Gilpin said. At this time, there are more than 800 patients.

Gilpin likened it to a “runaway train.”

“If we continue to see an increase in the number of COVIDs, we will have to make some adjustments, open some extra beds, but again, the challenge here and the theme of the day is: where will we get that staff?” Gilpin said.

Grant said nurses and hospital workers are physically and emotionally exhausted. Some nurses have opted for early retirement, while others are leaving the profession altogether.

“We’re worried every day, and unfortunately we’re already seeing her,” Grant said. “It’s very worrying.

“At this time last year, none of us would have imagined, going through that extraordinarily difficult time, that we will be here again, at the same time this year. That we will work and see so many patients who are infected with the coronavirus. Hundreds and hundreds of them coming through our emergency room. ”

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The mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan is concerned about the capacity of the hospital and the vaccination rates in the city.

Of the 22 Detroit residents who died of COVID-19 in the first 10 days of April, 10 were 70 years old and older and had been eligible for the January vaccine, he said.

“Many of these tragic deaths could have been prevented,” Duggan wrote on Twitter. “Our hospitals are growing with patients with COVID-19. With COVID-19 vaccines more affordable than ever, I urge Detroiters to get vaccinated as soon as possible. ”

He said Detroiters are not getting vaccinated at a high enough rate. Programs for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines remain widely available.

“Compared to the surrounding counties and suburbs, the Detroit vaccine rate is extremely low,” Duggan wrote on Twitter.