LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Governor Gretchen Whitmer held a press conference Friday morning to provide an update on Michigan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She led by continuing to urge people who are qualified to get vaccinated as efforts continue to ramp up across the state, calling them safe and effective. Whitmer says over 3,310,000 Michigan residents have received a COVID-19 vaccine to date.
COVID-19 cases have been on the rise for the last few weeks, but the deaths from the virus have remained low. Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun spoke at the press conference too and said that case rates have increased 77% since mid-February. The 10 to 19-year-old age group has seen the biggest increase among all age groups.
Whitmer says many of the new cases have been attributed to high school athletics. In an order announced during the press conference, Whitmer says that all high school athletes will now have to get tested before all sporting events and practices beginning on Friday, April 2nd. And capacity at outdoor stadiums can also go up to 20% capacity with certain COVID-19 mitigation measures in place.
The Governor said they are monitoring new variants of COVID-19 that have arrived in the state. Michigan has confirmed at least 756 cases of the B.1.1.7. variant, or the U.K. variant, which she says is the second most of any state in the U.S.. There have been two confirmed cases of the B.1.3.5.1 variant, also known as the South African variant.
“We may be seeing light at the end of the tunnel, but we are still in the tunnel. And the only way out is to move forward and together.”
The briefing comes after she spoke from Ford Field in Detroit Thursday with Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist to discuss the new vaccination site and the state’s goal to vaccinate as many Michigan residents as possible. She thanked the Detroit Lions franchise for their assistance at Friday’s conference.
