LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hinted Friday during her daily coronavirus (COVID-19) briefing that more of the state could be reopening soon.
The governor was joined by Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the chief medical executive for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
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Whitmer and Khaldun both said more regions of the state will likely reopen in the coming days.
FULL STORY HERE: More parts of Michigan to reopen ‘in upcoming days’
Michigan reported 607 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 34 additional deaths Friday afternoon. The state total is now 56,621 cases and 5,406 deaths.
SOS to reopen
Starting next week, Michigan Secretary of State branch offices are going to reopen.
The offices are set to reopen Monday, but only by appointment.
Workers will follow strict health and safety protocols, including wearing masks, standing six feet apart, using desk shields and continuously disinfecting shared and common surfaces.
Doors will be locked and each branch will have a greeter to let customers with appointments in at scheduled appointment times, officials said.
Malls reopen
Malls across Metro Detroit have reopened, but shopping wasn’t exactly what many Michiganders expected.
Briarwood in Ann Arbor, Great Lakes Crossing and Twelve Oaks saw foot traffic begin early Thursday morning. But many of the stores inside those malls remained closed.
Malls reopen in Metro Detroit: Can you touch surfaces? Is it safe to try on clothes?
Of the roughly 250 stores inside Twelve Oaks, only a handful actually opened to customers. Some put up signs saying they won’t be open until next week, while others are leaving their options open.
Barber shops, salons, spas want to reopen
Michigan barber shops and salons came together Wednesday to create an eight-step safe reopening plan and Whitmer to lift the ban on their businesses
More than two dozen cosmetology salons, spa and barber shop owners and workers, representing more than 350 facilities across Michigan, delivered the letter Wednesday.
Another problem with unemployment
A new problem is keeping Michigan residents from getting their unemployment checks, and this time, it has nothing to do with a computer glitch.
An alert is being sent out about the threat of fraudulent activity.
READ: Michigan Gov. Whitmer says everyone who qualifies for unemployment benefits will get them
A UIA spokesperson said the fraud threat is causing issues for some people who are still trying to file and collect unemployment claims.
That’s why some accounts have been put on hold as investigations get underway, officials said.
The Swiss cheese analogy
Public health officials said the “Swiss cheese” approach to reducing the risk of being infected can help keep people safe.
“Each intervention that we currently have for COVID-19 prevention is kind of like a slice of Swiss cheese,” said Ryan Malosh, a research scientist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. “There are holes in it, and so the virus can get through in certain ways.”
But if you layer multiple prevention practices on top of one another, it’s less likely the holes in every slice of cheese will align to make a clear path through the entire stack.
“The holes are not necessarily aligned in the same places on each slice,” Malosh said. “So if we stack those things up, then we have suddenly a block of cheese that the virus can’t get through.”