LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed to Local 4 that the rest of the state won’t be moving to phase five of her coronavirus (COVID-19) reopening plan this week.
Click here to read about what it takes to get to phase five of the reopening plan.
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“My hope was to do it this week, (but) we’re not going to do it this week,” Whitmer told WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick. “We’re not in a position to do that yet. We’ve got to get more data, because we are concerned.”
A spokesperson from Whitmer’s office said a move to phase five could still happen by July 4. They are continuing to monitor the data.
Six of the state’s eight regions -- divided up in Whitmer’s reopening plan -- are in phase four, or “Improving.” Only the Upper Peninsula and the Traverse City Region are in phase five.
When Whitmer moved regions six and eight to phase five on June 5, she said the rest of the state would follow “in the coming weeks.”
MORE: Whitmer to outline next steps for schools to reopen this fall
Whitmer told WWJ that most Michiganders are doing their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19 -- wearing masks, socially distancing and minimizing risks. As a result, the state’s daily coronavirus numbers have steadily declined. Since June 6, the highest number of new cases was 255 on Saturday (June 20).
But there have been massive spikes in other states as they started to reopen around the country, including Florida and Arizona. Florida recently saw more than 4,000 new confirmed cases in a single day.
Michigan hasn’t yet seen spikes as a result of reopening, though there have been some isolated outbreaks, such as 18 people who tested positive after visiting a bar in East Lansing.