Perhaps no governor in the United States embraced the use of emergency powers with more zeal than Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a democrat. This from westernjournal.com.
Michigan Governor democrat Gretchen Whitmer
In a commentary piece published by The Detroit News, writer Kathy Hoekstra reported that in March 2020, Whitmer’s administration sent a letter to all physicians and pharmacists in the state warning of “professional consequences” if they prescribed or dispensed hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine to treat coronavirus patients.
The next month, according to The Detroit Free Press, Whitmer banned travel between residences (with few exceptions) and prohibited all public and private gatherings of any size, with fines of $1,000 for any violations.
She even shut down garden centers at the beginning of the 2020 planting season. She also banned Michiganders from playing golf.
The above list is merely scratching the surface. To put it bluntly, this governor abused her power.
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in October 2020 that she lacked the legal authority to continue the lockdowns in her state. In July of this year, Whitmer was stripped of her emergency powers by the state legislature.
However, Whitmer’s draconian measures didn’t seem to make much difference in containing the spread of the coronavirus.
Michigan is currently experiencing a frightening spike in COVID cases. As of Saturday, there were 346,030 active cases in the state according to the data site World-o-meters. This is the highest number of active cases ever in the state, and easily eclipses two previous spikes of 293,837 on Apr. 25, 2021 and 251,631 on Dec. 11, 2020.
NEXT: The Biden Regime to the rescue with 44 medical personnel from the U.S. military to support two hospital systems in the state of Michigan, state officials said Wednesday. This from westernjournal.com.
The U.S. Department of Defense will send two medical teams, each comprising 22 doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists, who are expected to arrive next week, according to a Michigan Department of Health and Human Services news release.
The teams will assist health care workers at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids in dealing with the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the state, as hospitals across Michigan suffer from a lack of enough emergency rooms and staff shortages.
Furthermore, the federal government will be opening the John D. Dingell Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Detroit for transfers, according to the news release.
“I’m grateful that the federal government has granted our request to provide much-needed relief to the health care personnel who have remained on the frontlines of this pandemic,” Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.
The state health department said that, according to hospital data reported to them, “over 20% of hospital inpatients statewide are COVID positive.”
“There are regional differences with some facilities reporting that nearly 50% of inpatients are COVID positive. As of Nov. 22, 3,963 Michiganders are hospitalized for COVID-19,” the news release stated.
Over 25,000 dead have died due to confirmed or possible COVID-19 cases in Michigan since the start of the pandemic, The Associated Press reported.
On Wednesday, the state once again had the nation’s highest seven-day rate of infections, the AP reported.
“We deeply appreciate receiving this much-needed support from Governor Whitmer, MDHHS and the federal government to help our courageous staff battle a fourth COVID surge,” Beaumont Health CEO John Fox said, according to the MDHHS news release.
“On behalf of our physicians, team members and patients we are grateful for the Department of Defense medical team and appreciate support from state and federal levels as we take every measure to care for our community,” Tina Freese Decker, President & CEO, Spectrum Health said.
“Working together we can address this urgent public health crisis, relieve the strain on our teams and continue to provide high quality care.”
Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, told the AP that the situation in-state was “dire” and they “desperately needed” the federal government’s help through the military.
“Many hospitals throughout the state are operating at capacity, delaying nonemergency medical procedures and placing their emergency departments on diversion,” Peters said, according to the AP. “Receiving these teams of federal caregivers can only help those hospitals.”
FINAL OBSERVATION: There is much news being reported about Michigan’s Covid crisis, however, the big issue that was addressed with only one short sentence: “Michigan [is suffering] from a lack of enough emergency rooms and staff shortages.”
And the question should be ‘WHY is there a shortage of emergency rooms and staff?”
Could the answer have anything to do with Governor Whitmer’s “draconian” measures? Have the staff quit or been fired due to her Covid Vaccine Mandate? And if so, is this the rationale for Michigan having too few emergency rooms?
Answers to the above questions will not be forthcoming from the liberal media. However, at face value, what appears to be here is a crisis of the Michigan Governor’s own making.
Perhaps Western Journal will next ask these questions and report further.
