Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is directing veterinary services that use personal protective equipment (PPE) to minimize their use as much as possible to ensure availability of PPE for health care workers.
Whitmer issued the clarification Thursday of an executive order she signed earlier in the week which places a temporary restriction on non-essential veterinary procedures during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The order prohibits all non-essential veterinary procedures starting on April 2, 2020, and encourages veterinarians and veterinary technicians to practice telemedicine as much as possible to slow the spread of COVID-19. And now it directs vets that use PPEs to minimize their use as much as possible to ensure availability of PPE for health care workers.
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“We are working every day to make sure our health care workers have the supplies they need to fight COVID-19,” said Whitmer. “We must all continue to work together to secure more personal protective equipment so we can slow the spread of the virus. Michiganders are tough, and if we all work together, we can protect as many people as possible.”
Under executive order 2020-34, “non-essential veterinary services” means all non-agricultural veterinary services other than those that are necessary to preserve the life of an animal, as determined by a licensed veterinarian; necessary to treat serious pain that threatens the health and safety of an animal, as determined by a licensed veterinarian; necessary to euthanize an animal, as determined by a licensed veterinarian; or necessary to treat or prevent the transmission of any infectious disease that can be transmitted between animals and human beings, as determined by a licensed veterinarian.