There is plenty of finger-pointing and angry words being exchanged in Lansing as Governor Whitmer and the republican-controlled state legislature try to come to terms in dealing with the corona virus pandemic. It all comes four days after the State Supreme Court ruled Whitmer could not take unilateral actions in dealing with COVID-19 without the approval of the legislature.
At a news conference yesterday, the governor said she was there in the capitol, but that the legislature was not. She called on them to cancel their October recess and get back to work. House speaker Lee Chatfield tweeted that lawmakers had been in session all during the outbreak, but the governor had refused to work with them.
Whitmer said she is ready to work with the legislature, but that she is never going to negotiate when it comes to doing the right thing to protect people’s health. She also called Republican senate leader Mike Shirkey an ‘anti masker’ for his comments that a senate caucus wouldn’t support a mandate requiring people to wear masks. Shirkey said he has encouraged people to wear masks, but that it shouldn’t be a state-wide requirement.
The governor has now turned to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on safety requirements. The department has re-instituted mask requirements and limitations on indoor and outdoor gatherings. It also issued an order requiring K-12 schools to provide public notice to the school community about probable and confirmed cases of the corona virus within 24 hours. That order goes into effect next Monday. Whitmer says more orders will be released in the coming days. State health officials reported yesterday there were 903 new cases of the corona virus and 22 deaths. The state has now reported 6,838 deaths among its 129,826 cases.