Detroit has issued a health ordermeant to provide what Mayor Mike Duggan calls “certainty and continuity” for COVID-19-related restrictions.
The order is meant to fill the void and alleviate confusion left when the Michigan Supreme Court challenged ordersissued by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The court ruled that the 1945 law Whitmer’s orders were based on was unconstitutional.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said the city is currently doing well in keeping COVID-19 cases low. Its test positivity rate is currently at 1.8%, lower than the regional and statewide rates this past week.
But Duggan said given the toll the virus it took on the city earlier this year, particularly on African Americans, they still need to be cautious.
“If somebody in Detroit gets COVID-19, there’s no helicopter coming to take you to Walter Reed Hospital for the latest experimental treatment,” Duggan said. “We’re going to have to act to protect each other.”
Detroit’s order makes mask-wearing mandatory in all public spaces. That includes schools. And “schools must publicly report any probable or confirmed COVID-19-positive cases on their school website within 24 hours,” said Denise Fair, Detroit’s chief public health officer.
Duggan said Detroit Police and the city’s health department will not hesitate to enforce the orders.
Many of the restrictions outlined in Detroit’s order are echoed by a state order the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services also issued on Friday.
Thatstate order sets capacity restrictions for restaurants and other businesses, among other things.
