Whitmer orders restrictions on entry into care facilities and juvenile justice sites

FOX 2 - LANSING, Mich. -- Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-6 to impose temporary restrictions on entry into health care facilities, residential care facilities, congregate care facilities, and juvenile justice facilities. The governor also signed Executive Directive 2020-2 to order state public bodies to postpone the public meetings that they can and to facilitate remote participation in the meetings that do occur. 
 
Under Executive Order 2020-6, beginning Saturday, March 14 at 9:00am all health care facilities, residential care facilities, congregate care facilities, and juvenile justice facilities must prohibit any visitors that are not necessary for medical care, support of activities of daily living like bathing or eating, or that are not visiting under exigent circumstances. Additionally, beginning as soon as possible but no later than Monday, March 16 at 9:00am, these facilities must assess for COVID-19 symptoms and risk factors for all individuals not under their care who are seeking entry into their facilities. The facilities must deny entry to any individual with these symptoms or risk factors. These restrictions will remain in place until April 5, 2020 at 5:00pm. During that time, the order encourages the affected facilities to use electronic communication platforms to facilitate visitations with individuals under their care. 

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Under Executive Directive 2020-2, all public bodies of departments and agencies of the state, including boards, commissions, committees, subcommittees, authorities, and councils, must consider postponing public meetings that may be moved to a later time. Additionally, department and agency public bodies subject to the Open Meetings Act that must continue to meet must do so in a way that ensures adequate notice and access for all participants. This could include remote participation by conference call, real-time streaming, or other platforms, so long as public access and participation is preserved. 

 
“We are taking every measure we can to mitigate the spread of coronavirus and protect Michigan families,” said Governor Whitmer. “This is a hard time for families, and we will continue to put their health and safety first when making these decisions. During this crisis, we must ensure that state meetings remain open and accessible to the public. I also want to remind everyone to continue doing everything they can at an individual level to protect themselves and their families, like washing their hands and practicing social distancing. We will get through this together.”

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“We believe these actions, along with those the governor has announced in the past few days, will help us slow the spread of COVID-19 in Michigan and protect our communities,” said Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Deputy for Health and Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun. “We encourage every Michigander to remain flexible and take care of each other at this time.” 
 
Patients with confirmed infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of: 
Fever 
Cough 
Shortness of breath 

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Right now there's one big difference between flu and coronavirus: A vaccine exists to help prevent the flu and it's not too late to get it. It won't protect you from catching the coronavirus but may put you in a better position to fight it.

To protect yourself, wash your hands well and often, keep them away from your face, and avoid crowds and standing close to people.

And if you do find yourself showing any of these flu or coronavirus symptoms - don't go straight to your doctor's office. That just risks making more people sick, officials urge. Call ahead, and ask if you need to be seen and where.

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