LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Friday that 4 million masks will be distributed to Michigan residents - free of charge - to help combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The face coverings will go to low-income residents, seniors, schools and homeless shelters through a partnership of the state, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Ford Motor Co.
“This partnership is going to save lives,” the governor said at a news conference. She has required that masks be worn in enclosed public spaces and, when consistent distancing is not possible, outdoor public areas.
FEMA is supplying 2.5 million of the masks, including 1.5 million that the state has already sent to social service agencies. Ford is paying for 1.5 million masks, which - combined with an additional 1 million from FEMA - will go to low-income schools, the city of Detroit, health clinics for the poor, some virus testing sites and other places.
Whitmer reiterated that face coverings reduce the chance of spreading the virus by about 70%. “There is also growing evidence that when you wear a mask, it can protect yourself. That’s because it can prevent you from getting the disease in its most severe form,” said state Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon.
With questions swirling over the return of students to in-person learning in the coming weeks, the governor’s top medical adviser, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, recommended that superintendents require all students to wear masks, even in a classroom setting.
Under Whitmer’s road map for reopening schools, those in grades six through 12 must wear a face covering in the classroom in most regions of the state. K-5 students except in northern Michigan must wear one unless they remain with their class throughout the day and do not come into contact with students in another class.
“We strongly encourage masks for everyone,” Whitmer said.
The state reported 11 additional COVID-19 deaths and 748 confirmed new cases on Friday. The total case count topped 100,000 with probable cases factored in. There were 6,566 confirmed or probable deaths.
Michigan’s seven-day average of new cases has remained mostly constant over the past two weeks, at around 743, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. The per capita rate in that time - 100.8 per 100,000 people - is the 41st-lowest in the U.S.
The positivity rate, which is 2.41%, also has stayed stable of late, according to The COVID Tracking Project. The state’s seven-day average of deaths was 10.8 and has been relatively flat for two months after dropping from peaks 10 times that rate in April.
“Because we’ve taken this so seriously, we’re doing much better than other states like Florida and Texas who are continuing to struggle and closed later and reopened earlier than we did,” said Whitmer, who has come under criticism from Republicans and the owners of gyms, movie theaters and other businesses that remain closed while others, such as casinos in Detroit, were allowed to reopen at 15% capacity.
___
Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00
Please read our comment policy before commenting.