Whitmer, Gilchrist team up with U-M, MSU coaches to urge Michiganders to wear masks

LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Wednesday that she and Lt. Gov. Garland Gilchrist have teamed up with the University of Michigan and Michigan State athletic coaches to urge Michiganders to "mask up" while out in public.

Their message is coming out in a new TV commercial with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. You'll see MSU football coach Mel Tucker, MSU men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo, MSU women’s basketball coach Suzy Merchant, U-M football coach Jim Harbaugh, U-M men’s basketball coach Juwan Howard, and U-M women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico in the spot. It will air on local television stations across the state.

“If we all work together as a team and wear our masks now, we can put our state in a stronger position for kids to return to school safely in the fall,” said Governor Whitmer. “Masks can reduce the chance of spreading COVID-19 by about 70 percent, and it’s been proven that masking up can protect our small businesses and our economy. By wearing masks, we can save lives and protect our family, friends, and the heroes on the front lines from the spread of COVID-19. This is going to be a team effort, but I know Michigan is up to the challenge. Let’s all mask up when we’re out in public.”

“As Michiganders, we will do anything to support our team. But right now, we need to come together as one to ensure that we ‘Mask Up, Michigan,’” said Lt. Governor Gilchrist II. “If we all take appropriate and responsible actions now, we can slow the spread of this virus, save lives, and be in a better position to get back to the rivalries that we know and love.”

He added at the press conference Wednesday afternoon that he's lost 23 people in his life due to COVID-19, with one being a basketball coach he's known since he was in middle school.

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo spoke at the press conference too."The fight against COVID-19 is not for just Spartans, it's not just for Wolverines, it's for everybody to come together. That doesn't happen very often we're on the same page; we're rivals," he said. "From all of us, the bottom line is let's all mask up for Michigan and show this country the state that really does work together and masks up together."

The partnership comes as daily COVID-19 case counts now exceed 20 cases per million in the Detroit, Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Jackson and Upper Peninsula regions, and exceed 40 cases per million in the Grand Rapids region. Research confirms that a big part of the reason is spotty compliance with the governor’s requirement, issued in prior orders, that individuals wear face coverings in public spaces.

Earlier this week, Gov. Whitmer also announced the emergency and disaster declaration for the entire state has been extended until August 11, 2020. 

Dr. Joneigh Khaldun gave more context to the increasing cases in Michigan at the press conference.

She said Grand Rapids has the highest rate of cases, at 53 cases per million people per day. Kalamazoo and the Detroit region are at 30 cases per million people per day. The Saginaw, Jackson and Upper Peninsula all have over 20 cases per million people per day, and the Traverse City is at 15 cases per million people per day.

She did share what she called good news, that testing has increased significantly to about 21,000 tests per day in the state. The goal right now is to get to 30,000 tests per day.

But in another bout of troubling news, she shared the state's percent positive rate is also increasing.

She said we're at 3.4%, up from 2.8% the previous week. She said 3% is the cutoff that experts are saying you want to try and stay under. She also said that because the percent positive rate is going up, it indicates that we're not simply just seeing more cases because we've increased testing.

She added that the age group with the highest new cases is 20-29, followed by 30-39.

"Young people are not immune to this disease. You can get very sick, need to be hospitalized and even die. There are possible longterm health impacts, many of which are still unknown. People can have persistent lung damage, longterm brain damage and psychiatric challenges," she said.

She also urged anyone who's working outside the home, feeling sick or has been in contact with those who are feeling sick to get tested. You can find a testing site near you at www.michigan.gov/coronavirustest.