Whitmer warns: 'The next two months are going to be hard' during pandemic

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday again called on the GOP-led state Legislature to support a $100 million COVID-19 relief, to extend unemployment benefits for Michiganders that expire at the end of the year, and to pass a public mask requirement.

“We have to be resilient to see this through,” Whitmer said during a news conference. “We’ve got to continue to work together to eradicate and beat this virus. I’m not going to sugarcoat this: The next two months are going to be hard.”

On the question of the extension of the current Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) order that closed dine-in service at bars and restaurants and other businesses as well as in-person classes for colleges and high schools through Dec. 8, Whitmer said “It’s too early to say…we have not predetermined anything.”

“I understand the frustration,” said Whitmer, comparing the death toll of COVID-19 in Michigan to the 2,977 deaths that occurred during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. “I understand the fear. None of these decisions that have had to be made over the last 12 months has been easy. Every single one of them has been weighed heavily by me by all of us. Yet we know that this virus has taken the lives of over 9,000 people in Michigan.

Read more: https://www.michiganadvance.com/2020/12/01/whitmer-warns-the-next-two-months-are-going-to-be-hard-during-pandemic/