West Central Michigan News

A conservative writer from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy says the state of Michigan is mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael Van Beek, director of research for the Mackinac Center, expressed how the state is responding to the pandemic on a blog published on the Mackinac Center's website.

Last May, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for a statewide lockdown. All gatherings were prohibited, schools were closed and businesses cold only remain open if they were “necessary to protect and sustain life,” as stated in MI Safe Start, a plan Whitmer authored to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

According to the Mackinac Center of Public Policy blog, Whitmer drifted from her own plan starting with region-based reopening strategies, wherein Phase 4 regions were allowed to reopen schools and restaurants for in-person service, when the plan states it is only possible to do so in Phase 5.

Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, argued that “masks drive case levels down, and although case levels are high, we do not need a stay-at-home order due to the power of masks,” according to the Mackinac Center.

“The fact that public officials routinely deviate from official state plans, coupled with the lack of transparency about the data and considerations that determine current policy choices, leaves Michiganders in the dark about decisions that impact us all,” Van Beek said in his blog. “We cannot expect public officials to get every decision right the first time, but they should at least stick to a plan or explain why deviating from such plans is prudent and necessary.”

According to its website, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy “is a nonprofit research and educational institute that advances the principles of free markets and limited government. Through our research and education programs, we challenge government overreach and advocate for free-market approaches to public policy that free people realize their potential and their dreams.”