COVID Cases Are Rising, But Governor Whitmer Isn't Planning On More Restrictions Now

Photo by author. Photo in a mall in Traverse City, Michigan

Finally, the vaccine is rolling out and available to almost everyone in the State. Healthy patients sixteen and older need to wait another two weeks before they can take the vaccine. But most other people can set up an appointment and take their shots.

Yet when you turn on the news or go online, experts are pleading with people to keep their masks on. Some stores are so rigid on the mask rules that people won't let you in the store without them. If anything, the restrictions are more strict than they were in the middle of December.

To make things weirder, Michigan's been seeing rising cases since February. Health officials and experts are getting worried about the rise in COVID cases. And now the B.1.1.7. variant is floating North. It recently got identified in both Roscommon and Gladwin counties. All of these problems are making a lot of people go on edge.

With rising cases, I keep watching the news to see if there will be new restrictions. Are bars and restaurants going to close again? Will we have to go back to streaming movies online? Are we going to need to build a makeshift gym at home? I keep waiting to hear things, but it turns out we're not going to need to worry. In a recent event, Governor Whitmer announced she had no plans to put more State restrictions. We're still moving forward with reopening as scheduled.

Michigan is now third in the country for COVID infections. Ten percent of the country tested positive for the virus. With that in mind, it makes us wonder why Whitmer isn't jumping into putting more restrictions on the state.

We know more about the virus than in the past

It's been a year since we closed the state. In that time, we learned it's doubtful you'll get COVID through the mail, and you're more likely to get it if you don't practice good hygiene. We're washing our hands more often, masking up, and keeping hand sanitizer on our person at all times now. A lot of us don't like doing any of this, but we're doing it. The more extreme ones don't leave the house unless they have no choice.

We also know which people have more issues with COVID-19 than others. Older people and people with autoimmune disorders have more problems than their younger, healthier counterparts. Kids can get sick, but it's unusual for them to have any severe side-effects.

This knowledge helped the state decide the order of people getting the COVID-19 vaccine when distributing it. As of now, over half of all senior citizens in Michigan are vaccinated against the virus. All adults will be eligible for vaccination on April 5th. There isn't a COVID-19 vaccine available for kids under sixteen.

So, where are these cases coming from? The kids. In Michigan, the highest infection rates come from two age groups: kids 10-19 years old and their 40-something parents. Spring sports are coming back, and more kids are doing more extracurricular activities. Some schools noticed the pattern and are already moving online for the foreseeable future.

The B.1.1.7. variant is running ramped in Northern Michigan, but vaccines look effective against it

Many people worry about the B.1.1.7. variant. It's more contagious than the original COVID-19 virus, and it looks like it affects younger people more than older people. It's more contagious, but I haven't seen anything saying it's more dangerous than the original virus.

What makes all this research better? The vaccines are effective against the variants; how effective depends on the variant itself.

Governor Whitmer isn't worried now, but she's watching the numbers

As of now, Whitmer isn't worried. A mixture of knowledge and science is making her confident about Michigan getting through this wave. It doesn't mean there isn't a chance restrictions will happen. If cases keep increasing at rapid rates, then she won't rule out more restrictions.

For now, we're all watching to see what happens. It's natural cases started rising. We're going through pandemic fatigue and want things to go back to normal as soon as possible.

In two weeks, all adults sixteen and older will be eligible for their COVID-19 vaccines, regardless of health. Once we get through those hurdles and still take some precautions, the pandemic will be a thing of the past.