Busy week with COVID news in Michigan – everything you need to know

It’s been a very busy week for COVID-related topics in Michigan, from debates over another strike to rapidly filling hospitals to another six months of workplace restrictions.

If you’ve had trouble keeping track of everything or just want an overhaul, we have an outline of all the key topics of COVID-19.

Everyone wants to know if Michigan will strike again due to rising total cases. As Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the chief medical officer for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said on Wednesday the state’s case and positivity rates is five times more than two months ago.

But Government Gretchen Whitmer insisted throughout the week that her administration does not intend to impose additional restrictions on those already in force. This includes rules for gatherings, capacity constraints at restaurants and masks.

MORE: Michigan Still Doesn’t Delay New COVID-19 Restrictions – That’s Why

On Monday, dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made it clear she believes Michigan should shut down.

“The answer to that is to really close things, to go back to our basics, to go back to where we were last spring, last summer, and to shut things down to flatten the curve,” Walensky said. said.

When Whitmer held her Wednesday briefing, her attitude did not change.

“Right now, we know that the tools at our disposal that can most dramatically improve the outcomes for people in this condition are vaccines, which is why we are moving so fast to get people vaccinated,” Whitmer said.

The governor’s position is essentially this: she believes that the distribution of COVID-19 can be delayed with the rules that already apply. She thinks the problem is a combination of non-compliance, more contagious variants and reservoirs of people without antibodies.

RELATED: Why Whitmer says low COVID rates in Michigan early in pandemic contribute to current rise

Last week, she asked Michiganders not to eat indoors at restaurants, not participate in youth sports or meet with people from other households for two weeks. But it will remain recommendations, not rules, she said.

Dr. Nick Gilpin, medical director of infection prevention for Beaumont Health, spoke on Thursday about hospital capacity and agreed with Walensky.

“If you also look back at our previous rises, what was the difference?” Ask Gilpin. ‘The difference in the first boom we experienced was that there were restrictions in the community to limit the size of the event and limit indoor activities, which we know are very effective ways to transmit coronavirus. We saw it in March and April last year. We saw it in the fall and winter months in Michigan, and I believe we both bowed those thrusts in part due to active constraints. ”

When asked directly if he believes Michigan should strike, Gilpin said he believes Michigan needs more restrictions to fight this boom.

“I think yes, we need to have some commitment to limit some of the activities in the community,” Gilpin said.

Whitmer wants the federal government to increase additional vaccines to Michigan because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 here. But it is not part of the national vaccination plan.

READ: Whitmer Requests Extra Vaccines to Be Sent to ‘COVID Hotspot’ in Michigan

“There are different tools we can use for different periods when there is an outbreak,” Walensky said. ‘We know, for example, that if no vaccines appear today, it will not have an effect on the vaccines between 2-6 weeks, depending on the vaccine.

‘I think if we try to vaccinate from what’s happening in Michigan, we’ll be disappointed that it takes so long before the vaccine works, to have the impact. Similarly, we need that vaccine elsewhere. If we vaccinate today, we will have an impact within six weeks, and we do not know where the next place will be that will increase. ”

Andy Slavitt, the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, agreed.

“We need to remember the fact that the variants we saw in Michigan will also occur in other states in the next 2-6 weeks,” Slavitt said. “Our ability to vaccinate people in each of the states quickly, rather than taking vaccines and playing them down to a mole, is not the strategy outlined by public health leaders and scientists.”

The other big vaccine news of the week is that Michigan will follow FDA and CDC recommendations temporarily suspending the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Of the 6.8 million people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine nationwide, officials, according to experts, identified six women who subsequently developed a rare blood clot.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we follow the recommendations of the FDA and CDC and interrupt the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Michigan,” Khaldun announced.

Although these cases of blood clots are extremely rare – only six out of 6.8 million – experts are investigating just to be sure.

For the time being, any Michigander wishing to receive a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine should proceed according to plan, and anyone who should have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should reschedule or receive one of the other brands, officials said.

Michigan has expanded the COVID workplace rules which were already in place, and they are now in force until 14 October.

The six-month postponement means that employees who may be able to work from home must do so to reduce the chance of COVID-19 spreading.

READ: Do COVID rules in the workplace in Michigan mean employees can’t go back to personal work?

Personal work is allowed for work that cannot be done elsewhere, but it is strongly recommended that work be done remotely.

Personal businesses must maintain a written COVID-19 preparation and response plan and provide thorough training to employees. The training should cover workplace infection control practices, how to use personal protective equipment, steps to notify the company of COVID-19 symptoms, and how to report unsafe working conditions.

Federal officials announced extended unemployment benefits will no longer be available for Michiganders after this week. They officially expire Saturday.

These benefits lapse because the unemployment rate of the state has fallen below the required threshold. Extensive benefits come into effect when the total unemployment rate averages 6.5% or higher for three consecutive months.

The U.S. Department of Labor has notified the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency that the program will no longer be payable after this week. UIA officials have notified the 16,000 claimants who are currently receiving extended benefits of the end of the program.

The Extended Benefits Program offered 13-20 weeks of extra benefits to people who took advantage of their usual unemployment benefits and other extensions.

Michigan officials said the state paid about $ 419 million in extended benefits as the high unemployment rate caused the program.

Gilpin said most Beaumont hospitals are very close to capacity. He expects them to reach their ceiling soon.

“It’s stiff,” Gilpin said. “Every day, each of our sites comes together very actively to see what they can do to create space.”

Susan Grant, chief nurse at Beaumont Health, said Thursday morning (April 15) most Beaumont hospitals have between 90% and 95% capacity.

During the second boom in Michigan this winter, Beaumont cared for more than 700 COVID-19 patients in its eight-hospital system, Gilpin said. At present, there are more than 800 patients.

Gilpin likens it to a ‘runaway train’.

“If we continue to increase COVID numbers, we need to make accommodation, open extra beds, but the challenge here and the theme of the day is again: where are we going to get the staff from?” Gilpin said.

Grant said nurses and hospital workers were physically and emotionally exhausted. Some nurses retired earlier, and others leave the profession altogether.

“We’re worried about it every day, and we’re unfortunately seeing it already,” Grant said. “It simply came to our notice then.

‘At this time last year, none of us could have imagined ourselves going through the extraordinarily difficult time that we would be here again, the same time this year. That we would work and see so many patients infected with the coronavirus. Hundreds and hundreds of them come through our emergency rooms. ”

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is concerned about the hospital’s capacity and the vaccine in the city.

Of the 22 Detroit residents who died of COVID-19 in the first ten days of April, ten were 70 and older and have been eligible for the vaccine since January.

“Many of these tragic deaths were preventable,” Duggan tweeted. ‘Our hospitals are rising with COVID-19 patients. With COVID-19 vaccines being more accessible than ever before, I urge Detroiters to be vaccinated as soon as possible. ”

He said Detroiters are not vaccinated at a high enough rate. Vaccination against Moderna and Pfizer is still available.

“Compared to surrounding provinces and suburbs, Detroit’s vaccine percentage is extremely low,” Duggan tweeted.

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