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  • now to Michigan, where there are at least 790 confirmed cases.

  • Governor Gretchen Whitmer joins me Now.

  • Good morning, Governor.

  • You just heard Governor Murphy explain why he issued that stay at home order of the governor of Illinois, which isn't far from you, has done the same.

  • Is something similar under consideration for Michigan?

  • Well, we've been very aggressive.

  • I was one of the first to cancel school.

  • We move forward with closing restaurants and bars pretty much of the same paces.

  • My fellow governor, Phil Murphy and J.

  • B.

  • Pritzker and Mike DeWine, Republican from Ohio, a swell were continually analyzing and determine what our next move is.

  • And so the fact of the matter is, we're gonna continue to see these numbers go up exponentially.

  • The problem that we have right now is that we don't have enough test kits.

  • And I heard your conversation with the man from FEMA.

  • We need test kits because these numbers are informative.

  • Tow it on Lee.

  • To a certain extent, we know that Cove in 19 is has infected a lot more people than just those who are being tested and testing positive.

  • And that's why, in order to make decisions.

  • We really need better data.

  • Were all building the airplane as we fly it Right now, we're doing the best that we can.

  • We're gonna continue to be aggressive, and we're continually monitoring what the next move we can make us.

  • But we need the federal government to get us those test kits.

  • We need P p ease.

  • As Phil was just saying, We need clear directive and guidance from the federal government and, frankly, a patchwork strategy of each state doing what they can is you know, we're going to do it if we have to, but it would be nice to have a national strategy.

  • But But given all these urgent needs and the virus is spreading rapidly, as we said, Michigan is up to 790 confirmed cases.

  • Why not get ahead of this?

  • Well, I we have we have been very aggressive.

  • Were, as I said, looking at and analyzing what is happening here in Michigan, and we're always going to be aggressive and make the best decisions based on the facts as we have them.

  • My team is meeting 24 7 Trust me, we are.

  • We're continually trying to determine what we need to d'oh To keep people safe and to keep our health care system from being overwhelmed.

  • You said that you don't think the federal government did proper planning.

  • How much of a difference do you think the recent measures purchasing those n 95 masks will make?

  • I mean, this important.

  • We gotta have those masks.

  • I am working with companies to purchase masks as a state.

  • Had the federal government really started focusing when it became clear that the whole world was going to be confronting this, we would be in a stronger position right now.

  • And and that's, Ah, issue that I'm not gonna be labor because I've got to keep solving problems and and I would like the federal government to be a partner.

  • I can't afford to have a fight with the White House, But the fact of the matter is, at some point we're gonna have to analyze where all the failures were.

  • We're gonna have to make decisions that that based on what happened and what didn't happen, lives will be lost because we weren't prepared.

  • Our economy will struggle longer because we didn't take this seriously as early enough as a country and they're gonna be consequences that But right now, I got to solve problems.

  • And I need the federal government to help me make sure that I've got what we need for our front line providers in particular, but also ventilators for people that are going to suffer.

  • What do you think the situation in Michigan will be two weeks from now?

  • It's You know what, Martha?

  • It was only 12 days ago that we had our first case, and now we have over 800 over eight people of around eight people have died.

  • The numbers are growing so quickly, it's hard to say solidly what we know at this moment on, we've had an infant detected having cove in 19.

  • So the thought that this is only one segment of our population that is exposed or in danger is ridiculous.

  • We have to all take this seriously, and every one of us needs to do our part.

  • Assume you are carrying cove in 19 and wash your hands.

  • Practice social distancing.

  • Stay at home if you're not absolutely needed to be outside of your home.

  • And if you do go outside, keep that six foot distance from others.

  • We all have to play our part to mitigate the spread and to save our health care system.

  • Good lessons for everyone.

  • Hi, everyone.

  • George Stephanopoulos here.

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  • Thanks for watching.

now to Michigan, where there are at least 790 confirmed cases.

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