Lt. Gov. Gilchrist: Decision on restaurant restrictions to be based on safety practices

Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist said Sunday the decision on when restrictions on Michigan restaurants will be eased will be based on how well COVID-19 safety guidelines are being practiced.

"It's our practices that are going to help us slow the spread of this virus, and they'll get us to thresholds that we can then look at what kinds of activities have different levels of risk," Gilchrist said Sunday on WDIV-Channel 4's "Flashpoint."

Gilchrist said he was disappointed by comments made Friday by Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, who was critical of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's three-week ban on in-person dining.

As the three-week ban is set to end on Wednesday, Shirkey, R-Clarklake, said Whitmer should issue the metrics restaurants must meet for their reopening to give owners "adequate time to ready their establishments."

Shirkey could not be reached for comment immediately on Sunday.

Whitmer had said an extension of the three-week "pause" was possible because of the volume of COVID-19 cases in Michigan and that case rates and hospitalization rates could be a factor in the decision.

On Sunday, Gilchrist also addressed increased hospitalizations due to COVID-19. As of Friday, 3,764 adults with the coronavirus were hospitalized with 513 on ventilators and 793 in intensive care units.

"We're concerned about what happened over the Thanksgiving holiday and we're waiting to see how that's going to impact hospitalizations," Gilchrist said.

"We're very concerned about things like the fact that so many hospital systems across the state of Michigan are at capacity and so we have to do things to slow the spread so that we have enough hospital beds to take care of anyone."

Gilchrist also discussed a recent report by the Michigan Task Force on Racial Disparities that found that fewer Black Michigan residents are getting COVID-19 and dying from it.