Lansing, MI – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday it will likely be necessary to extend Michigan’s stay-at-home order past its current expiration date of May 1 as the state continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I want to be clear: we will likely need another short-term extension of the Stay Home, Stay Safe order,” Whitmer said.

Whitmer said there will likely be some form of a stay-at-home order in place “for a long time” to protect vulnerable populations, but the scope of it could be reassessed in the near future.

Whitmer said she hopes to announce Friday more information about when and how Michigan’s economy will reopen.

When the economy does reopen, Whitmer said it will happen in phases with low-risk sectors opening first.

Whitmer said during an interview on MSNBC that movie theaters, hair and nail salons, bowling alleys and dine-in restaurants “would be some of the last things to come online when we do start to re-engage sectors of our economy.”

Whitmer previewed factors she will consider when deciding which sectors of the economy can reopen first and several controls she may place on businesses once they do reopen earlier this week.

Whitmer announced last week that she and the governors of Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky would coordinate their efforts to reopen their states’ respective economies, as Flint Beat reported first was in the works.

Michigan had 33,966 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state Monday, and 2,813 people have died from the virus.

Of the confirmed cases, 1,362 are in Genesee County, and 138 people in the county have died from the virus.

Andrew Roth is a reporter and photographer covering politics and policy in Michigan, as well technology, culture and their convergence. Andrew is a journalism student at Michigan State University and first...

10 replies on “Whitmer: Stay-at-home order likely to be extended ‘for a long time’”

  1. I’m not a Whitmer fan, but I do believe she is handling this the right way, I believe she is putting the people of MICHIGAN 1st. I hope she stays strong throughout all the pressure, you can’t put a price on a person’s life.

  2. What about the renters who has evictions.. Some won’t have no where to go being we stayed at home order everything was closed down so some of us couldnt look for a place.. And what’s so sad is when people get an illness or disability to where they can’t work anymore have to apply for social security which takes time but when it comes to health and illness’s or disability landlords should not evict you there should be a law to protect those who are struggling to fight to and get through each day going to get help from doctors , therapist, etc, that is one reason there are so many homeless people .. when you have to worry about losing your home you DON’T have time taking care of yourself.. please I beg for not only me but for others as this is a scary thing to go through..

    1. Live your life and see this for what it is, a media driven hysteria. Everything is coded as Covid, EVERYTHING. We’ll never know the true numbers of who tested positive (testing kits rcvd and contaminated with Covid) who died from actually having Covid, to who unknowingly had it and recovered on their own. This is an audition for Whitmer being schooled by Pelosi on how to be a 3rd rate hack politician. The state of Michigan was opened May 1st, the tyrant has no more authority to dictate anything. Live your life, visit family and friends. And come this Autumn, don’t fall for “round two of the Covid virus. God Bless and stay mentally well.

  3. I am a salon owner I don’t know when we can open or what the rules will be I need help knowing. I’m in grayling mi and I need help no alcohol sanitizer masks for my business and because of the unemployment I’m losing my food and medical with the dhs. I can’t afford it I take chemo and others I need help with all this going on and answers please.

  4. I feel sorry for the people of Michigan!
    I do not live there I live in Florida burg I have to shake my head at what I see and hear
    Michigan is a great state with many things to offer if your gov would just take her dictator foot off the neck of the people. Florida is opening many business like restaurants and Genersl Jobs!
    Why shut the whole state down when the problem is SE Michigan
    Let the rest of the state live!
    Just a observation from another state

    1. I’m from the UP. It was nice to read your post. The governor is doing the best she can with the stressful situation that’s going on. Not everyone is happy with the policy, but you can’t please everyone. Yes she is worrying more about the sick people than the ones who are healthy. I don’t blame her. I would care more about the sick and it spreading over healthy people whining about not getting to go
      To the movies, having to stay six feet away from someone, or jus the home policy in general.

    2. Thanks for your input, I for one agree with you, she has no clue what she is doing to the State, at this point I’m not sure it will ever recover. If she had done her job in the beginning, instead of whining about what Trump wasn’t doing we would be more like FL and other states.

  5. I’m totally for the gov. She is doing what she feels must be done to protect our families and friends and our state I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes for nothing those are very big decisions to have to make sure we all want to go back to normal, but at what expenses your life your children’s life’s ? Well everyone has their own opinions and a right to be angry but are you really angry at the gov. Or she the easiest one to slash out at right now maybe she wrong hopefully she is doing the right thing for all of our safety I’m not so much worried about myself you see but I will do WHATEVER it takes to keep my children safe ……..GOD BLESS AMERICA ??????????????????????????

  6. People say that some people are “not happy.”. But it’s not about being “happy”. It’s about feeding your family. It’s about insurance, retirement, and sustaining a place to live. Because the governor decided that people at risk cannot take care of themselves and their loved ones can’t take care of them, it’s up to her. That goes completely against what our country stands for. She has an ego the size of Texas. She treats people like a herd of sheep and unfortunately most will just follow along. The people that support her are those whose way of life isn’t on the line. It’s obvious and completely ridiculous. Anyone who supports kids going hungry and homeless, whether now or in the inevitable future, is just a sheep blindly following a wolf. Good luck

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