Michigan is reopening indoor dining with limits and curfews, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) says it is âbecause of the strong position that weâre in.â
Starting on Monday, restaurants in the state will be allowed to have 25% indoor capacity and will have a 10 p.m. curfew.
Appearing on CNNâs âNew Dayâ Monday, Whitmer said, âThis virus poses a unique threat to places that are indoors where you mix households and people take off their masks. Itâs not the restaurant industryâs fault that they are the place where this virus can spread fast.â
âBut that is in fact the case,â she added. âAnd thatâs why weâve been trying to get Congress to give us more support so we can help these struggling businesses.â
Whitmer pointed to the stateâs âstrategic, targeted and temporary pauseâ in November, adding that it helped Michiganâs numbers in coronavirus cases âdrop precipitously.â
The governor continued:
âWe are now 46th highest when it comes to positivity rates. Thatâs phenomenal, compared to where we were in November. Weâre sixth-highest when it comes to getting vaccines into arms and because of the strong position that weâre in we can take this small step forward in this industry thatâs struggled so much.â
Watch Whitmerâs interview below:
There has been an average of 148,460 positive coronavirus cases reported over the past week, which is a 32% decrease from the two weeks prior, according to The New York Times.
Michigan has reported an average of 1,892 new COVID-19 cases per day over the past week â a 30% decrease from the two weeks prior, the Times reports. There were at least 68 new cases reported on Sunday.
