It's hard to quantify exactly to what degree Michigan's COVID-19 restrictions have helped to slow the spread of the virus. | Retha Ferguson/Pexels
It's hard to quantify exactly to what degree Michigan's COVID-19 restrictions have helped to slow the spread of the virus. | Retha Ferguson/Pexels
Michigan instituted several health orders that have helped slow the progress of COVID-19, but Bridge Michigan reported that they can't definitively say how much.
The data was analyzed between Michigan and Ohio. Michigan currently has the lowest seven-day average of new daily cases per 1 million compared to other surrounding states.
Robert Gordon, Michigan's health director, said there are states that have more restrictions and bigger declines in case numbers, but Republicans also point out that Michigan has the highest jobless rate in the region.
Sen. Mike Shirkey
| #MiSenateGOP
Gordon insists that the ban on indoor dining and other activities, such as movies and bowling, has helped to slow the spread of the virus.
“Michigan is clearly in the best position of any state in our region,” Gordon told Bridge Michigan. He said the "pause" on indoor dining is working.
The two states that have the current highest rates of infection are Tennessee and California, and yet these states have opposite restrictions: Tennessee has no mask mandate, no indoor dining ban and no bar ban, but California has all three and has still been overrun by the virus.
These contradictions are why people are questioning whether restrictions really bring down COVID-19 case rates.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Lindsey Leininger, clinical professor of business administration at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, told Bridge Michigan. “To attribute cause and effect is a tough thing to do.”
Leininger said that limiting close contact between maskless people from several different households reduces the spread of the virus, but she isn't sure about the impact of restrictions when it comes to indoor dining bans. She hopes those types of questions will be able to be answered in the future.
For now, Michigan Republicans continue to resist the calls to pass legislation that allows mask mandates, Bridge Michigan reported.
“Use targeted actions. Fine-tuned messaging. Loud. Consistent. Informing, inspiring and encouraging,” Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) told Bridge Michigan. “No more blunt force instruments.”
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