Duggan: Detroit is ‘ready for the next round of reopening’

The mayor of Detroit said Wednesday the city is ready to reopen more things due to the city’s vigilant COVID-19 response.

Mayor Mike Duggan said the number of deaths related to the virus was once around 300 in a week, but have now dropped to under 10 people in one week.

Duggan said last week, the city identified 10 bars and restaurants that were at risk of having their licenses pulled. Now one or two are at risk of losing it before this upcoming holiday weekend.

The mayor said the number of cases linked to an exposure at Harper’s Restaurant and Bar Pub in East Lansing between June 12-20 has grown to well over 100, including a Detroit city employee who was at Harper’s during that time.

“There is no doubt if you look at the statistics, the city of Detroit is in stage five - ready for the next round of reopening. We need to stay there. The governor, of course, can’t make a decision on the city by itself as if we’re an island, she has to make a decision on the region. Hopefully, the region will be declared in stage five in the near future,” he said.

The mayor is referring to the stages of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI Safe Start Plan. The following factors determine moving into Phase 5, which is called the containing phase: cases and deaths are at low absolute rates per capita, health system capacity is very strong, and robust testing, contact tracing, and containment protocols are in place.

RELATED: When can Michigan enter Phase 5, and what it will include

RELATED: Number of COVID-19 cases linked to East Lansing bar grows to 25

Duggan said but that depends on the city’s participation in safety precautions. 

"It won't take very many nightclubs, bars, restaurants to act irresponsibly to send us back in the other direction," he said.

“It gives you a sense of how widespread one outbreak can be and why they’ve had problems in Florida, Texas, and the like, where they did not act decisively enough,” he said.

The mayor does believe it’s still another 7 or 8 months before the city returns to what they think of as “normal.”