Gov. Whitmer: ‘I Have Incredible Empathy for What [Small Businesses Are] Struggling With’

‘Yet we have to... make decisions that combat the spread before our hospitals get overwhelmed and before we have 1,000 deaths a week’

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EXCERPT:

WHITMER: “So, first let me say, you know, the restaurant industry has really had a tough year because of Covid, because there’s not been a national strategy and we have seen Covid just explode across the country in waves. This is really driven by our epidemiologists and our public health experts that tell us it’s inherently dangerous with the kind of community spread that we have all across Michigan and all across the Midwest and frankly all across the country, the inherently dangerous situations are when you are inside with people from a different household or many different households for a prolonged period of time with masks off. That’s what happens in restaurants. And that’s why it’s really going to be critical that the feds get their act together and give us some stimulus support for these small businesses, for these restaurant workers. I -- I have incredible empathy for what they’re struggling with and yet we have to follow the epidemiology, the public health experts and make decisions that combat the spread before our hospitals get overwhelmed and before we have 1,000 deaths a week in Michigan, because that’s what the modeling is telling us where we’re headed right now."

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