LANSING – Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she will not seek any new restrictions to help slow down the new wave of COVID-19 cases in Michigan.

During a Wednesday afternoon news conference, Whitmer shared that the number of new COVID-19 cases have been on the rise in Michigan over the last two weeks. In addition the test positivity rate is around 18 percent and there are two dozen hospitals that are at 90 percent capacity, with the majority of the patients suffering from COVID. Many of these cases are from the B117 variant.

Whitmer says we have to continue doing what we know works, wearing masks, washing our hands frequently, and social distancing. She says Michigan still has health laws in place to slow down the spread of COVID, including a mask mandate, capacity limits on indoor gatherings and mandatory testing for sports. Whitmer says the most important thing that people can do is get a COVID-19
vaccination.

Members of the media asked if any new restrictions would be put into place in Michigan, since it worked in the past. Whitmer says no, since Michigan still has some of the strongest protocols in place. Whitmer says Michigan has combining issues. She says there are COVID variants in Michigan that other states aren't seeing. There are several people who didn't get COVID and are now vulnerable to the variants. Whitmer says that's why she won't seek new restrictions, but encourage people to follow the guidelines and not slack off. She says it's not a policy issue but a compliance problem.

Earlier on Wednesday, Michigan reported 7,955 new cases of COVID-19 along with 33 more deaths due to the virus.