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It’s going to be a very busy week, as we move into the sixth week of the coronavirus crisis here in Michigan - and around the country. Here are some things to watch for this week:
- Will case growth continue to slow? Cases increased by about 750 on Sunday, keeping in line with recent growth, which is a good thing. We’ll be watching this closely this week, as it’ll be key to pointing to progress, even with the lack of testing. (Latest case data in Michigan)
- Reopening the state: Gov. Whitmer is expected to begin rolling out her plan to reopen the state in phases during press conferences this week. You can assume it’ll start with the need for much more testing. (What does ‘reopening’ the economy look like? Some likely scenarios)
- More testing? Pretty much every governor in the U.S. is telling the federal government the same thing -- they need help to ramp up testing. It’s a key component of any plan to begin reopening business. President Trump says he will use the Defense Production Act to increase manufacturing of swabs used to test for the coronavirus. The U.S. has only tested four million.
- More aid from Congress: The Trump administration and Congress are nearing an agreement on an aid package of up to $450 billion to boost a small-business loan program that has run out of money and add funds for hospitals and COVID-19 testing. This could be announced on Monday.
- Michigan unemployment issues: The UIA office has been swamped for weeks - and many still cannot get through to file to unemployment. UIA deputy director Kimberly Berry said the office would be at full capacity by the first week of May, but we’ll be checking in with them all week. (Q&A on unemployment problems)
Some other headlines:
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