UPDATE: Governor Whitmer COVID-19 Daily Update June 25, 2020

Michigan Executive Office of the Governor sent this bulletin at 06/25/2020 06:30 AM EDT

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 Below is an update on the 2019 Coronavirus outbreak as of 10:00 PM on 6/24/2020                      

 

UPDATE  

 

  • Yesterday, Governor Whitmer signed House Bills 5412-5416, which increase access to health care for Michiganders through telemedicine and remote patient monitoring services. The governor also signed Senate Bill 940 into law.  

 

“I was pleased to sign bills today that will increase access to healthcare in Michigan by ensuring that telemedicine and remote patient monitoring services will be covered by insurers and by Medicaid,” said Governor Whitmer in her signing letter to the Legislature. “These bills codify significant pieces of Executive Order 2020-86, which broadly expanded access to telemedicine as part of Michigan’s emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the virtues of telemedicine are not unique to this moment, so Michiganders will benefit from reduced costs, increased accessibility, and lower transmission rates of infectious diseases at the doctor’s office for years to come.” 

 

  • Governor Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-131 yesterday, which extends a previous executive order temporarily allowing e-signatures on official documents and remote notarizations to avoid unnecessary in-person contact during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Executive Order 2020-131 expires on July 31, 2020. 

 

“As we continue to suppress the spread of COVID-19 and make every effort to prevent a second wave, it’s crucial that we take all measures to avoid unnecessary in-person contact while ensuring documents can be signed or notarized,” Governor Whitmer said. “Encouraging the use of e-signatures and alternative means of notarization will protect more people during this ongoing public health crisis.” 

 

  • Late last night, the office of Governor Whitmer released the following statement from Press Secretary Tiffany Brown after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, including one judge nominated by Donald Trump and two judges nominated by George W. Bush, granted her request for a stay of a lower court ruling declaring her order closing gyms in southern Michigan because of COVID-19 should be lifted Thursday, June 25:  

 

“Today three Republican-appointed judges got it right: in the fight against a global pandemic, courts must give governors broad latitude to make quick, difficult decisions. The governor will continue to take the actions necessary to save lives.” 

 

QUOTES FROM THE COURT’S RULING:  

 

“Shaping the precise contours of public health measures entails some difficult line-drawing.  Our Constitution wisely leaves that task to officials directly accountable to the people.”  (p 6)     

 

“Enjoining the actions of elected state officials, especially in a situation where an infectious disease can and has spread rapidly, causes irreparable harm." (p. 6)  

“Crises like COVID-19 can call for quick, decisive measures to save lives. Yet those measures can have extreme costs—costs that often are not borne evenly. The decision to impose those costs rests with the political branches of government, in this case, Governor Whitmer." (p. 7) 

 

  • The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced 323 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. This brings the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 to 61,953. 

 

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HAPPENING ACROSS STATE GOVERNMENT 

 

  • The Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel along with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has led a coalition of 14 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting the City of Chicago’s lawsuit challenging the U.S. Health and Human Services’ (HHS) failure to create a special enrollment period in response to COVID-19 for individuals in the 38 states that rely on the federal exchange for health insurance. In the brief, filed late Monday, the coalition argues that there is both a critical need for and a legal obligation to create a special enrollment period on the official health care marketplace website to help millions of individuals obtain health care coverage.   

 

“Thirty-eight states, including Michigan, rely on the health care marketplace to run our health care exchanges and while we continue to face an unprecedented public health crisis, the federal government should want to ensure all who live in this country have access to the care they need to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” said Nessel. “Michigan has been significantly affected by this pandemic, with an unemployment rate that now exceeds 22% and positive cases surpassing the 60,000 mark. It is vital that our residents and all individuals across the 38 federally-run exchanges have access to the coverage they need to keep themselves and those around them safe.”   

 

  • The Michigan National Guard will continue its partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan State Police, and local health departments to offer COVID-19 testing this Thursday and Friday at Manistee High School in Manistee. 

Located at 525 12th Street, Manistee, Michigan, this drive-through site will be offering tests at no cost to the public from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, June 25 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, June 26. 

 

“The important mission of making widespread COVID-19 testing safe, easy, and accessible is something the men and women of the Michigan State Police, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and the Michigan National Guard are excelling at,” said Governor Whitmer. “This type of testing remains one of the best ways to ensure the safety of our neighbors and communities as Michigan gets back to work.” 

 

 

MEDIA COVERAGE 

 

A BIT OF RELIEF  

 

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