County health director urges caution in Whitmer's expected relaxing of Covid rules

FOX 2 - Governor Gretchen Whitmer is poised to accelerate some of the state's Covid restrictions as the state moves closer to normal.  

The head of the CDC shocked health care professionals and governors with her surprise recommendation that all vaccinated citizens can take off their masks.

Whitmer wasted little time and implemented the new mask policy here last Friday. Now comes word that she is itching to lift even more restrictions on businesses and individuals.  

"We feel confident our state can begin taking an even great(er) steps to get back to normal," her offices reveals.

Many would be shocked if the governor followed the lead of the Ohio governor who is set to remove all Covid restrictions June 2 and their full vaccination rate is lower than Michigan's which is at 43 percent.

The governor did not consult with local health officials on accelerating these rollbacks but if she had, they would have urged caution.

"I probably would have said if you can, slow it down," said Linda Vail, Ingham County health director

Offices are set to re-open in five days and the new order could include more spectators at sporting events and high school in-person graduations ceremonies could be impacted.

But is the governor taking a risk by eliminating more restrictions now and could that lead to more Covid cases in the coming weeks?

"I think it's a low probability that something significant is going to happen," Vail said. "We'll deal with some outbreaks and some cases, but in terms of a massive surge in cases, I don't think there is a high probability."

It's possible the governor will be thinking that when she pulls the trigger on lifting more covid restrictions sooner than later.