DETROIT – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Saturday’s record-breaking coronavirus numbers is a call to action to avoid going backwards.
Whitmer was interviewed ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3. As of last weekend nearly 1 million people had already voted in Michigan.
On Sunday’s episode of Flashpoint medical experts weighed in on the new spike in coronavirus cases.
Whitmer spoke with Local 4 about the possibility of a second lockdown after 3,338 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Saturday -- the highest ever reported. That’s why Whitmer said Michigan might have to take a few steps back.
“We have pushed our curve down in the past," Whitmer said. “The good news is we’ve learned a lot about this fire source, we know what it takes. But we need everyone to do their part so that we can avoid having to take steps backward.”
She also spoke about the recent Michigan Supreme Court ruling that deemed her executive orders unconstitutional.
“This virus doesn’t care about a Supreme Court decision,” Whitmer said.
The Director of Health and Human Services still has power in the pandemic, therefore a mask mandate is still in place along with a limitation on gatherings.
“If these numbers continue to rise and our health systems are under duress, then the director will issue additional orders that could mean moving backwards," Whitmer said. “That’s what I’m hoping to avoid.”
Another topic of concern was if she’ll be willing to work with members from the opposing party on finding a permanent solution. She said it all depends on the outcome of Election Day.
“I do think that what happens on Nov. 3 is going to impact how eager they will be or whether or not they won’t be willing to work with me on this,” Whitmer said.
We also asked the governor on where she stands on allowing high school sports. She said those decisions are being made on a local level because of the 800 districts across the state.
- View more: Michigan COVID-19 data