'Fragile' decline in Mich. cases, but no decision yet on extension to 3-week pause

The state health director Thursday defended the department's three-week closure of indoor dining at restaurants and in-person learning at high schools and colleges, but said there's been no decision regarding an extension to the "pause." 

Every additional day of data the department can analyze is "critical," especially as the Thanksgiving holiday may have skewed the state's numbers, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon told state lawmakers at a meeting. 

The state has seen a "moderate and fragile" decline in cases in recent days, but it's still too early to tell whether that is sustainable, he said. Health officials have said the state's positivity rate has decreased from 14% Nov. 16 to where it hovers now, around 13%. 

"I can say with 100% certainty no decisions have been made," Gordon told the Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic about an extended closure.

Gordon also told lawmakers during the Thursday meeting that the state has not considered mandating the coronavirus vaccine. He said he was not aware of any discussions regarding what percentage of the state population would need to get the vaccinated in order to lift the public health emergency.

Rep. Jack O'Malley, R-Traverse City, prefaced his question about vaccines by noting, ""If you thought there was a dust up with mask mandates, I don’t think you should be mandating vaccines.”

Gordon said he did understand the hesitancy to trust the vaccine among some people, especially given the speed with which it was developed and the distrust that may exist among the African-American community in light of past medical experimentation abuses. 

"It shapes the way folks view vaccines right now and rightly so," Gordon said, while still endorsing the vaccine's efficacy and safety.

"...We are profoundly focused on making sure that we reach folks where they are, that we communicate effectively," he said.

Lawmakers questioned Gordon at length about the recent pause on schools and restaurants, noting that restaurants and bars account for a small portion of the state's reported outbreaks compared to congregate care settings and schools. 

Gordon acknowledged cases in restaurants and bars may not lend themselves to tracking as well as schools or nursing homes, but are still high-risk for COVID-19 spread.  

"Among settings where it is difficult to do contact tracing – in other words, not nursing homes, not K-12 schools, not colleges – there actually are a significant number of outbreaks at bars and restaurants," Gordon said, noting areas where people move around and mingle are inherently riskier than others. 

"...The outbreak data are one source of information, but as I said they are incomplete and quite limited," he said.

On schools, Gordon said the losses students are experiencing because of online learning are very "real," and that the decision to close high schools was a difficult one. Other K-8 closures, he noted, are made at the local level. 

Sen. Aric Nesbitt, the Lawton Republican who serves as vice chairman for the committee, noted that closure decisions should be balanced against concerns such as learning loss, hunger, abuses at home with no outlet to report and parents who are essential workers who can't oversee their children's learning. 

Gordon said he agreed, but argued "the only way we will get folks comfortable statewide with reopening schools is if we get the virus under control."

After being questioned by O'Malley about the state's suicide rate this year compared to last, Gordon said he would look into the data . 

But Gordon pushed back on the suggestion that state actions were contributing to any sort of mental health crisis during the pandemic.

"The stress is from living with a virus that is out of control and is causing our loved ones to end up in hospitals and lose their lives," Gordon said. 

eleblanc@detroitnews.com