Michigan - Coronavirus COVID-19

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan's 6-person restaurant, bar rule rescinded after Whitmer's violation (detroitnews.com)

Grand Rapids — Michigan's new COVID-19 health rules, effective June 1, include the elimination of a restriction Gov. Gretchen Whitmer violated over the weekend.

The epidemic rules released by the state Department of Health and Human Services Monday have dropped requirements that restaurant and bar tables be limited to six people, with each table being six feet apart.

The governor told the media at a Monday press conference that the determination to eliminate the rule "was made well before the weekend" and prior to her Saturday visit to East Lansing's Landshark...

"Do as I say, not as I do" caught up with GW

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Ann Arbor’s State Street Art Fair announces event is back on for July (clickondetroit.com)

ANN ARBOR – Ann Arbor’s State Street Art Fair announced on Tuesday morning that it has reversed its decision to cancel the annual event.

The fair will take place July 15-17 -- down one day from the typically four-day event.

Executive director of the State Street District Frances Todoro-Hargreaves said plans have been in the works to bring back the event once Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that all outdoor capacity restrictions will be lifted on June 1.

“This had a lot to do with the governor’s announcement on Thursday,” said Todoro-Hargreaves. “She wasn’t even done speaking and my phone was blowing up. It was predominantly our businesses.”...

 

[MrX]

Michigan's 6-person restaurant, bar rule rescinded after Whitmer's violation (detroitnews.com)

Grand Rapids — Michigan's new COVID-19 health rules, effective June 1, include the elimination of a restriction Gov. Gretchen Whitmer violated over the weekend.

The epidemic rules released by the state Department of Health and Human Services Monday have dropped requirements that restaurant and bar tables be limited to six people, with each table being six feet apart.

The governor told the media at a Monday press conference that the determination to eliminate the rule "was made well before the weekend" and prior to her Saturday visit to East Lansing's Landshark...

"Do as I say, not as I do" caught up with GW

It will be fascinating, someday, to read books about what really went on behind the scenes, throughout the pandemic. I just remember, when Newsom was caught at the French restaurant, that the only possible message was that he didn't buy what he was selling his constituents. And it's not just Whitmer, Newsom and the Mayor of Denver - there were stories from Europe of the rich and powerful living like it was 2019. I suspect we will eventually hear endless stories of how the leaders of the most restrictive locales managed to ignore their own rules.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Bars and restaurants can serve indoors until 2 a.m. again Tuesday (detroitnews.com)

Closing up the Painted Lady Lounge at 11 p.m. may have been fun for a few weeks, but Hamtramck bartender Andrea Bonaventura is ready to get back to a 2 a.m. closing time.

"It was nice to get home earlier, and my girlfriend was happier," she said, "but it was definitely hurting my pockets."

On Tuesday, for the first time in six months, bars and restaurants won't have a curfew as part of state-mandated COVID-related safety restrictions. Bars like Painted Lady — a neighborhood hangout with a great whiskey selection but no food menu or permanent patio — had fewer options for revenue because of the way pandemic-related restrictions were structured...

 

[MrX]

Bars and restaurants can serve indoors until 2 a.m. again Tuesday (detroitnews.com)

Closing up the Painted Lady Lounge at 11 p.m. may have been fun for a few weeks, but Hamtramck bartender Andrea Bonaventura is ready to get back to a 2 a.m. closing time.

"It was nice to get home earlier, and my girlfriend was happier," she said, "but it was definitely hurting my pockets."

On Tuesday, for the first time in six months, bars and restaurants won't have a curfew as part of state-mandated COVID-related safety restrictions. Bars like Painted Lady — a neighborhood hangout with a great whiskey selection but no food menu or permanent patio — had fewer options for revenue because of the way pandemic-related restrictions were structured...

I never understood the curfew thing, unless the idea was that Covid transmission is directly tied to B.A.C.

We noticed a few small changes, in AZ, today. Portillo's (a Chicago hotdog chain) still has masking signage, but they reinstalled the public ketchup pump. Barnes and Noble replaced their mask sign, with one that required distancing (a message that also was broadcast over the PA.) That was an odd choice, as I believe the CDC said indoors, with recycled air, three feet and 60 feet are the same, as far as Covid is concerned.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Why Michigan's variants remain dangerous despite falling COVID cases (detroitnews.com)

Troy — After a year of quarantining at home, Tina Catron ventured to an indoor soccer field to watch her two sons play, not knowing that a highly contagious COVID-19 variant was circulating among those in attendance.

The next weekend, the team's coach tested positive. The week after, half of the soccer team, including family members, fell ill. Catron's husband came down with the virus on March 22 and, by March 30, Catron was hospitalized with pneumonia from the B.1.1.7 variant.

"I really felt like this is it, I'm dying and I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to anybody," said Catron, 44, of Troy. She had no underlying health conditions and, prior to contracting COVID-19, hadn't visited a doctor in three years...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan to begin easing COVID restrictions Tuesday (clickondetroit.com)

State’s reconfigured reopening plan lifts restrictions on June 1, July 1

Coronavirus restrictions will start loosening in Michigan on Tuesday, June 1 as the state slowly starts reopening amid the pandemic.

On May 20, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a reconfigured reopening plan that was no longer tied to the state’s vaccination rates. Instead, changes to mask mandates, gathering limitations and more are slated to change on just two dates: June 1 and July 1...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Later last call: Curfew on Michigan restaurants, bars lifted today (clickondetroit.com)

Restaurants, bars had 11 p.m. curfew

LANSING, Mich. – The curfew on Michigan restaurants and bars will be lifted today, the first step of the state’s new plan for fully reopening...

Previously, all bars and restaurants were required to stop offering indoor dining by 11 p.m. ...

Additionally, restaurants don’t have to limit individual table capacity, which was at a maximum of 6 people per table...

 

[ilovewings]

The Heartland Market near me in Farmington Hills has no more mask mandate as of yesterday. I don't know if I am ready to shed my mask- My husband went there earlier this morning and said some employees and customers did not have masks. My husband is ready to shed his but because we have no way of knowing who is vaccinated and who isn't, I am reluctant to stop wearing my mask.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

University of Michigan: ‘Summer baby surge’ expected after slowed pandemic conception rates (clickondetroit.com)

U-M women’s hospital expecting 10-15% increase in births

ANN ARBOR – As the recent COVID surge has slowed dramatically in Michigan, a new type of surge is expected this summer: a baby boom.

New research from the University of Michigan indicates that the slowed pregnancy and birth rates caused by the initial COVID-19 shutdown is quickly reversing.

“Birth rates declined early on in the pandemic, but we expect a dramatic rebound soon,” lead author and maternal fetal medicine director at Michigan Medicine Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, Molly Stout said in a release. “We’re already seeing signs of a summer baby surge.”...

 

[MrX]

The Heartland Market near me in Farmington Hills has no more mask mandate as of yesterday. I don't know if I am ready to shed my mask- My husband went there earlier this morning and said some employees and customers did not have masks. My husband is ready to shed his but because we have no way of knowing who is vaccinated and who isn't, I am reluctant to stop wearing my mask.

The Economist has a couple of interesting Covid articles in this week's issue. One talks about the evolution of our understanding of the virus. Initially they thought it behaved like the flu - large droplets that travelled a short distance and fell, where they were spread by surface contact. This is where masking, distancing and sanitizing guidance came from. They eventually discovered that Covid acts like an aerosol and spreads, great distances, through the air in enclosed spaces. I'm surprised that no one (that I have read) connected the dots - that flu has basically vanished, due to distancing, masking and scrubbing, while Covid appears to have defied all mitigation efforts (short of complete lock downs and virus eradication.) I expect tons more research and discoveries, in this area, but it strikes me that masks do make a difference for flu, but perhaps not for Covid.

(AZ has a relatively low percentage of vaccinated population, while all Covid restrictions were lifted months ago. One would expect a noticeable increase cases and deaths, which has not materialized.)

 

[ilovewings]

Michigan reaches 60% milestone for COVID vaccine coverage

Michigan reaches 60% milestone for Covid vaccine coverage.

I would think if you count those who were infected with Covid, but recovered, we would reach at least 70% on our way to herd immunity

Thoughts?

 

[Yesiamapirate]

Michigan reaches 60% milestone for COVID vaccine coverage

Michigan reaches 60% milestone for Covid vaccine coverage.

I would think if you count those who were infected with Covid, but recovered, we would reach at least 70% on our way to herd immunity

Thoughts?

Makes sense to me. Now the only thing I wonder about is how much immunity do those that recovered have?

 

[ilovewings]

Makes sense to me. Now the only thing I wonder about is how much immunity do those that recovered have?

That is the key question- we don't know how long their immunity lasts!

 

[ilovewings]

I never understood the curfew thing, unless the idea was that Covid transmission is directly tied to B.A.C.

We noticed a few small changes, in AZ, today. Portillo's (a Chicago hotdog chain) still has masking signage, but they reinstalled the public ketchup pump. Barnes and Noble replaced their mask sign, with one that required distancing (a message that also was broadcast over the PA.) That was an odd choice, as I believe the CDC said indoors, with recycled air, three feet and 60 feet are the same, as far as Covid is concerned.

As of yesterday (Fri- June 11) Costco in Commerce Twp in Michigan has indoor seating again in their food court- tables are spaced farther apart and there are no onions or relish for the hot dog----

 

[MrX]

As of yesterday (Fri- June 11) Costco in Commerce Twp in Michigan has indoor seating again in their food court- tables are spaced farther apart and there are no onions or relish for the hot dog----

We went to the mall yesterday. The Apple store is that last hold out, with mandatory masks.

 

[JDG]

We went to the mall yesterday. The Apple store is that last hold out, with mandatory masks.

Was the Apple store packed? Silly question I guess. TIA

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Has the pandemic changed our hygiene habits forever? (clickondetroit.com)

Some practices that help prevent germ spread here to stay even post-pandemic

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Throughout the pandemic, people and businesses have had to significantly increase cleaning efforts to help prevent the spread of COVID.

But now that things are starting to return to normal in Michigan, are those extra hand sanitizing stations and frequent hand-washing practices here to stay? Has the pandemic changed how we look at germs forever?

Auburn Hills company Stratus Building Solutions -- who provides cleaning and disinfecting services for commercial clients -- wanted to find out, so they conducted a survey among their clients...

 

[MrX]

Was the Apple store packed? Silly question I guess. TIA

Yes - that, and everybody pawing the same display equipment. Unless Apple is privy to some different data, the whole mask thing seemed like an exercise in virtue signaling. They've always been over the top. When every other store had reopened, Apple was appointment only, and employees were in these safety bubbles, so I guess this is progress.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Whitmer suggests COVID restrictions will be eased in 'coming days' (detroitnews.com)

Lansing — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday her administration could relax the state's remaining COVID-19 restrictions "in the coming days."

The Democratic governor made the comment during a stop in Grand Rapids, according to WWTV/WWUP-TV 9&10 News.

"It's scheduled for July 1," the governor said of her previous plan for when the next coronavirus policy changes would come. "But I think you should stay tuned."...