Michigan Republicans have come up with their own pandemic response, after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's many executive orders were struck down by the Michigan Supreme Court. | Pixabay
Michigan Republicans have come up with their own pandemic response, after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's many executive orders were struck down by the Michigan Supreme Court. | Pixabay
Rep. Hank Vaupel (R-Fowlerville) recently announced that House Republicans have designed a COVID-19 response plan that will provide transparency and confidence to Michigan residents regarding COVID-19 precautions and providing specific health data to help influence decisions.
“Over the past seven months, I’ve listened to thousands of people in our community whose lives and livelihoods have been impacted by the state’s response to this crisis,” said Vaupel, Chairman of the House Health Policy Committee. “They expect and deserve better results, more transparency and decisions that are made based on science. We are committed to working with the governor to get this right and deliver a smarter, more sensible response that works for each individual community," he told Michigan House Republicans.
Public health experts will be able to modify their COVID policies at the local level, according to the proposal. This means policies that involve limiting social gathering size, restaurant capacity and the like could vary in different regions of Michigan.
Rep. Hank Vaupel
| Michigan House Republicans
“Local residents, small businesses, nonprofits and emergency services will be provided certainty and a great voice on community goals, which must be met and maintained to keep people safe and the curve flattened,” Vaupel said, according to Michigan House Republicans.
Health mandates will be created using five specific scientific metrics. Case rate, positivity rate, hospitalizations and bed capacity, sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) supply, and testing capacity.
Health thresholds would be established based on cases over a 14-day time frame that are below 55 cases per 1 million. Positive tests over a 14-day period must be below 5%, health care facilities must be able to manage a 20 percent surge in hospital admissions or patient transfers without a 25% or higher hospitalization increase in the last 14 days, have two weeks' worth of PPE on hand, and can test 15 people per 10,000 residents per day while achieving a turnaround time fewer than three days.
“The people of Michigan deserve a voice and demand certainty on the COVID-19 response in their communities,” Vaupel told Michigan House Republicans. “Our data-driven plan is a better way forward than unilateral and unexplained executive orders to guide the state through the remainder of the pandemic.”
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