Whitmer extending stay-home order through May 15, relaxing boating, golf restrictions
Lansing — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is extending her stay-at-home order through May 15, while lifting certain restrictions on businesses and outdoor activities as cases of COVID-19 are plateauing in Michigan.
Under the new order, some Michigan businesses can reopen, as may cordoned off sections of big-box stores such as garden centers. The governor is also allowing people to participate in activities such as golf and motorized boating as long as they observe social distancing rules to remain six feet apart.
Employers are also required to provide "at least" cloth face coverings to their employees reporting to work.
Michiganians won’t have to wear face coverings when they’re walking in their neighborhood, for instance, but will have to when going to the grocery store or pharmacy. The order does not subject people criminal penalty for going without a mask.
The order allows individuals totravel between two residences in the state, including to a new home, though officials said such travel during the pandemic is "strongly discouraged." A ban on travel to vacation rentals remains in place.
“Data shows that most Michiganders are doing their part by staying home and staying safe. That’s good, but we must keep it up. Social distancing is our best weapon to defeat this enemy,” Whitmer said in a Friday statement.
“With new COVID-19 cases leveling off, however, we are lifting some of the restrictions put in place in the previous order. I want to be crystal clear: the overarching message today is still the same. We must all do our part by staying home and staying safe as much as possible.”
Among the businesses that can reopen are lawn services, garden shops, landscapers and nurseries. But they must adhere to "enhanced" social-distancing rules, which means restricting the number of workers to those "strictly necessary to perform the in-person work."
Groundskeepers and maintenance workers are also allowed to resume in-person work in restricted numbers.
Moving and storage workers were added to the list of permitted in-person work. So were bicycle maintenance and repair shops.
The order clarifies that any business or operation that employs workers who perform resumed activities — but that does not sell necessary supplies — may sell any goods through remote sales via delivery or at the curbside. But these kinds of businesses must remain closed to the public.
Michigan's most senior member of Congress, Republican U.S. Rep. Fred Upton of St. Joseph had urged Whitmer to pull back her restrictions on motorized boating, arguing it could be done safely and help save Michigan's industry going into the traditional boating season.
“The numbers we’ve seen in the past week have shown a plateau in positive cases, but Michiganders must continue doing their part to fight this virus and protect their families,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state's chief medical executive.
“The governor has taken a number of critical steps to protect Michigan families, and this order today will allow that work to continue. We will keep monitoring the data closely and work with our partners across state government to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
Whitmer is expected to discuss the short-term extension of her stay-home order at an 11 a.m. press conference Friday.
Whitmer had said even with a short-term extension she hoped to relax some of the restrictions in her current stay-home order, which is scheduled to expire Thursday.
The current order prompted a protest called Operation Gridlock last week at the Capitol, when more than 4,000 demonstrators rallied to oppose her tightened restrictions. Those restrictions included bans on travel to second homes, motorized boating, landscaping and in-person purchases of gardening and home improvement supplies at big box stores.
During a press conference in the midst of last week's rally, Whitmer said, "We know that this demonstration is going to come at a cost to people's health" because some rally participants mingled outside of their cars and ignored social distancing requirements.
"The sad irony here is that the protest was that they don't like being in this stay-home order, and they may have just created a need to lengthen it," she continued. "...Just by congregating, they've made that a real possibility."
There is debate over whether Whitmer would need legislative approval to extend the stay-home order past April 30.
Republican legislators have argued the governor needs their approval to extend the stay home order under the 1976 Emergency Management Act, but legal advisers have argued that a 1945 law allows her to extend it unilaterally. Critics have contended the 1945 law only applies to riots.
However, to extend liability protections for health care workers — a priority Whitmer has highlighted in press conferences — the governor would need legislative approval under the Emergency Management Act.
The GOP-led Legislature is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Friday to approve a resolution to create an oversight committee to assess Whitmer's handling of the coronavirus pandemic in Michigan.
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