Udow-Phillips in HuffPo on what’s missing in the debate over Michigan’s ongoing stay-at-home orders
Michigan has been especially hit hard by COVID-19. In an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus and to reduce the strain on hospitals and healthcare workers, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has issued aggressive stay-at-home orders. In “Something big is getting lost in the debate over stay-at-home orders,” Jonathan Cohn, a Huffington Post reporter, explores why these guidelines have sparked protests by those who believe their freedoms are unnecessarily inhibited. Some people are demanding an end to the lockdown procedures and a return to normal life.
Marianne Udow-Phillips, CHRT’s founding executive director, talks about the strain public health agencies are under as they work to support the health and human needs of Michiganders who have lost employment during the crisis. Udow-Phillips believes that state and local agencies are struggling to support the wave of needs because “we’ve underinvested in public health forever.