CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S FULL INTERVIEW WITH GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER
Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she’s pleased that the Upper Peninsula has been able to keep its COVID-19 caseload low throughout the entire crisis. In a wide-ranging interview with the Radio Results Network Thursday, the governor said that people need to “remain vigilant” and “wear a mask” to prevent the spread here.
The largest event planned for this summer in the Upper Peninsula, the U.P. State Fair, is still on target for late August. But under current restrictions, large-scale events still are not allowed under Phase Five of the MiSafe Start plan. So, can the fair in Escanaba go forward?
“Well, I haven’t had the chance to understand precisely the protocols they’ll be using, and how they’ll control crowds, and keep people safe,” Whitmer told RRN News. “That’s something I certainly want to take a look at.”
“You know, our concern, as always, as we congregate, is that people wear their masks and that they try to stay six feet apart,” she continued. “hat’s not always easy to do, but if we refrain from handshakes and hugs and high fives the way that we often greet each other, and we wear a mask, then there’s a lot of things we can do and protect ourselves.”
Will she be coming to the Fair, should it go forward August 17-23?
“Well, I’m not sure if I’m coming yet, but I can say I have been, and it’s a great event,” Whitmer said. “This is the best time of the year in Michigan, although I love getting up there in the winter as well. I’d love to get a trip to the U.P. on the books. We’re just going to make decisions based on the science, and make sure that I model the same kind of behavior that I’m asking everyone else to conduct.”
The governor says that she doesn’t anticipate moving the Upper Peninsula into Phase Six of the MiSafe Start Plan, which would essentially remove nearly all social distancing and other restrictions. The U.P. is currently in Phase Five, while downstate areas of the state are in Phase Four at the moment.
“That won’t happen until we have a vaccine,” Whitmer said. “It’s going to be a while before we pack indoor stadiums and places where we’re all inside and close together. Phase Five is about as close to normal as we’re going to get , short of a vaccine. So, we’re just going to have to learn to live with COVID-19, and keep it from spreading, until we have a vaccine.”
Whitmer also said that she anticipates schools, especially in the U.P. and northern lower Michigan, will open this fall with in-person instruction. The details of her plan to re-open schools is expected by the end of this month.
The governor was also set to take part in a U.P. Town Hall Meeting Thursday night, with the question-and-answer session scheduled to be carried live on all three of the Upper Peninsula’s major television stations, as well as those from the Traverse City area that cover the eastern part of the U.P.
“I think a lot of times, Yoopers fell like people in Lansing forget about them, so I want to make sure that’s not the case, and that I can answer their questions directly,” Whitmer said. “So, I’m looking forward to it. I think that it’s a good opportunity to stay close when we have to be apart.”
You can hear Jack Hall’s full interview with the governor by clicking the above AUDIO button.
Pictured above: Whitmer speaking at the 2019 Upper Peninsula State Fair “Governor’s Day” event.
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