LANSING, Mich. – More coronavirus (COVID-19) orders for the state of Michigan will be issued “in the coming hours and days,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer believes.
Whitmer expressed her support for the guidelines issued Monday by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Just days after the Michigan Supreme Court struck down the governor’s emergency orders, MDHHS issued regulations regarding masks, gatherings and some businesses across the state.
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“We are aligned, and I’m very pleased with the action (MDHHS) is taking,” Whitmer said. “I would anticipate more.”
The state’s Supreme Court sided with the Republican-leg legislature Friday, ruling that the 1945 law through which Whitmer went above the heads of lawmakers to issue executive orders is unconstitutional.
A series of counties issued their own rules following the announcement, but then MDHHS’s announcement on Monday put back into effect some of Whitmer’s previous safety rules.
Whitmer said there is more to come.
“The Department of Health and Human Services, the director, Robert Gordon, have epidemic powers that he can and is using, and I would anticipate more orders even yet today, perhaps, or in the coming days,” Whitmer said. “He can extend those, and I fully anticipate until we have some comfort that we’ve gotten our arms around this disease, that they will be extended.”
She singled out the recent COVID-19 trends in the Upper Peninsula, President Donald Trump’s positive test and outbreaks around the country to emphasis the threat the virus still presents.
“The law of Michigan, by virtue of these epidemic orders, is that we have to mask up, and that we can’t congregate in large numbers,” Whitmer said. “I believe that there will be additional measures that (Gordon) will be taking in the coming hours and days.”
More coverage
Here’s much more previous coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whitmer’s handling of pandemic:
Reopening Michigan:
Health questions, advice:
Vaccines:
Outbreaks:
Unemployment:
Individual stories:
Changes: