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COVID-19 Pandemic Perspectives India (Tushya Mehta) The perspective that this page is exploring is the perspective of the largest democracy of the world- India. It is also the second-most populous country in the world and so understanding how the nation is dealing with this crisis is crucial. The country is another giant like China where things could go very wrong and according to WHO may direct the future of this pandemic. I am exploring what the citizens are feeling and how they are responding to the pandemic. I have studied the Prime Minister’s speech on the nationwide lockdown to understand the action being taken., I used media/journalistic sources from TIME and NewYorker to see how the governments decisions are impacting the people. Using previous Public health studies I tried to understand why the decisions being taker are necessary and how prepared India actually is?

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (Amelia Timm)

Fact Checked Source:
Gretchen Whitmer, Executive Order 2020-21

On March 23, 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a "stay home, stay safe" executive order which was originally supposed to last until the 13th of April. This order closed all non-essential business and urged citizens to only go out if necessary. You can read the full executive order here.

Looking at the Facts of the Executive Order

Governor Whitmer claims to base all her decisions based off of scientific fact only, but let's see how true these facts are. In order to get a better understanding of some of the claims in this op-ed, I've research some of the facts that Whitmer makes in the order.

Older adults and those with chronic health conditions are at particular risk, and there is an increased risk of rapid spread of COVID-19 among persons in close proximity to one another.

This quote is in the first paragraph of the order, which informs citizens of those most at risk for COVID-19. This information is widely and publicly known among all citizens in the United States, and can be cross referenced with the department of health and human services or the center for disease control.

On March 10, 2020, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services identified the first two presumptive-positive cases of COVID-19 in Michigan.

I wanted to look at this claim because it is the first time COVID-19 is seen in Michigan and that is a marker of the spread of COVID throughout Michigan. I went back to the department of health and human services website and found that they did make an announcement about two confirmed COVID-19 cases on March 10, 2020.

This order takes effect on March 24, 2020 at 12:01 am, and continues through April 13, 2020 at 11:59 pm.

There is no way to check this fact, since it was made by the Governor herself, however, the only part about this order that remains true is the start time and date. Since the day the executive order was announced, a new one was put in it's place, extending the order now to April 30, 2020. In an interview with FOX 2 news, Whitmer expresses her intent to extend the order, and eventually the interview was updated with the executive order extension

Increasing standards of facility cleaning and disinfection to limit worker and patron exposure to COVID-19, as well as adopting protocols to clean and disinfect in the event of a positive COVID-19 case in the workplace.

This fact states that businesses that do remain open must make accommodations in order to make the workplace safe for its employees. I can speak first hand that this is fact. Working at an essential grocery store, I can speak to the safety precautions that some businesses are taking in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible.

Individuals may also travel:

To return to a home or place of residence from outside this state.

To leave this state for a home or residence elsewhere.

To travel between two residences in this state.

As required by law enforcement or a court order, including the transportation of children pursuant to a custody agreement.

This section lists one of the exceptions of the travel restrictions set in place by one of the Governor's executive order. Unfortunately, there is no source that can confirm nor deny that these restrictions are being set in place.

Analytic Essay

THAT Woman from Michigan-Taking Care of a State During Pandemic

The perspective conveyed in this source and in this page is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and her journey to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Michigan through her executive orders. There have been many orders put into effect by Whitmer in the past month, which revolve around the spread of COVID-19. From limiting the amount of people that are allowed at an event, to travel restrictions, to closing all non-essential businesses (Ainsworth), Whitmer is enacting policies that she believes will help "flatten the curve".

These are just some of the larger mandates that she has enacted (Ainsworth). As the Governor of the state of Michigan, it is Whitmer's responsibility to keep all citizens safe and improve Michigan as much as she can while she is Governor. Her first "stay home" order was published on March 23, 2020, which prevented citizens from any non-essential outings through April 13, 2020. In an interview with Fox 2 News reporter Roop Raj on April 6, she stated that an extension on the order might be coming in the near future (Raj).

Since that interview, Whitmer has extended Michigan's "quarantine" to April 30, 2020. While some hope that this will be the one and only extension of the order, others are not optimistic that this is the end of COVID-19. While Whitmer's goal is to return to normal as soon as possible, we can not do that until it is safe. That is why in the interview Whitmer stated that she was making her decisions based off of science and the information that was available to her that the time of her orders. Fox 2 News, while based in Detroit, is a news and media outlet that informs all of Michigan on anything from new government policies to the weather in the Southeast/Metro Detroit area.

As stated previously, Whitmer makes her decisions based on science. Facts within science is very important to her because when making a decision that affects a whole state, you need to make sure you are making the best decision for the majority and not a certain population. In addition, if something a scientsist or someone who can "create facts" says something to be true and it ends up as false, then the blame will be put on Whitmer since she was the one to spread this "truth" to Michigan. While some criticize Whitmer for her current orders to keep the people of Michigan safe, they do not have access to the same research team that she does, and that is what she is basing her decisions on- how far science has come to cure COVID-19 and how far away are we from finding a cure. For now, the only cure we have is to quarantine as much as possible, which is why she is extending the "stay home" order.

Overall, as governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer is in charge of ensuring that all of her citizens stay safe, especially during this difficult time. It can be very difficult making a decision that will benefit 10 million, or at least a majority of that population. However, Governor Whitmer says that she makes decisions for the people based on the scientific information that is available to her by a team of researchers. Some find it difficult to take what she says as fact, since they do not have access to the research team that she does, but other government health organizations like the Center for Disease Control (CDC) are giving as many updates to the population about the progress made to cure the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

Whitmer, G. (2020, March 23). Executive Order 2020-21 (COVID-19). Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_90705-522626--,00.html

This is a primary source, and it is a transcript of the Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer's executive order for all Michigan residents to stay home unless it is for essentials. This came from the official Michigan.gov website, where all executive orders are posted. This comes straight from Governor Whitmer herself. She wrote this order in order to protect all Michigan residents from the contagiousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main argument of this source is that everyone should stay home unless it is for essentials such as medical attention or groceries. She argues that by reducing contact with one another, we can reduce the amount of cases of COVID-19 in Michigan. Key ideas include only leaving your place of residence if it for an essential reason. There are several sections in this executive order, each outlining a different rule of the mandate and exclusions to that rule. For example, people who work in grocery stores or medical facilities are considered "essential personnel" and are therefore exempt from the "Stay Home, Stay Safe" mandate when traveling to and from work.

Raj, R. (2020, April 3). Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer anticipates extending 'Stay Home' order. Fox 2 Detroit Fox 2 Detroit. Retrieved April 5, 2020, from https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer-anticipates-extending-stay-home-order

This article is a secondary source from Fox News, a media company based in Detroit. It shows the uncertainty that is currently in the government and how they are unsure of what the following weeks will hold for Michigan citizens. The main purpose of the argument is to warn Michigan residents that April 13th, which is currently the date that all non-essentials were going to be allowed to reopen, will potentially be extended. Evidence comes from an interview that the author, Roop Raj had with the Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer was not able to confirm any information at this time whether she was leaning one way or the other. Only that these decisions were going to be based off of science and that they were going to be the best decisions for everyone. This source will provide good support to the main perspective, as this is another way to see what and why the Governor is thinking what she is and how she intends to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

Ainsworth, A. (2020, March 17). Here are the 4 Coronavirus Related Executive Orders Signed by Michigan Governor this Week. Click on Detroit, Clcik on Detroit. Retrieved April 7, 2020, from https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2020/03/17/here-are-the-3-coronavirus-related-executive-orders-signed-by-michigan-gov-whitmer-today/

This is another secondary source. This source will provide good support to the main perspective, as this is another way to see what and why the Governor is thinking what she is and how she intends to prevent further spread of COVID-19. The purpose of this source is to examine the first four mandates presented by Governor Whitmer, which include some business closures, unemployment benefits, the size of events, and some restrictions with travel. The article also states how long the original length of these restrictions were supposed to be in effect. However, many of these have been lengthened in the last three weeks. Each section of the article outlines a mandate put in place by Gretchen Whitmer since the outbreak of corona virus in Michigan (as of March 17), with the addition of some extra sections at the end about general corona virus information. Evidence includes statistics from several counties in Michigan and their corona case count and deaths from corona virus. This will be a good source because it examines the early stages of corona virus and how Governor Whitmer has dealt with that. In addition to informing the public about the executive orders, it also informs them on the amount of corona cases and deaths in each county (at that current point in time), allowing readers from all over Michigan to stay aware of their surroundings.

Azar, A. (2020, April 14). Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved April 14, 2020, from https://hhs.gov/

This is the homepage for the Department of Health and Human Services, where anyone can access articles or stay up to date about anything related to public health. This source was used to fact check the primary executive order source.

Fact Checked Source:Gretchen Whitmer, Executive Order 2020-21