Several Baraga County commissioners, plus the sheriff, prosecuting attorney, clerk, and treasurer of the Upper Peninsula county, have all signed a manifesto that places the state on notice that they will no longer enforce the state's COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.

The declaration reads: “Since March 10, 2020, the People of the State of Michigan have endured restrictions on their freedom which have not been seen in North America since the days of King George III and the American Revolution. In the face of a worldwide pandemic our political leadership in Lansing has ignored the protections guaranteed to all America citizens by the Bill of Rights in favor of the medical models designed to predict the course of a still, for the most part, unknown virus. The result has been the unilateral adoption of clearly unconstitutional measures which treat human beings like herd animals and which arbitrarily pick economic winners and losers. Our citizens’ rights to assemble, to freely practice their religion, to travel, to keep their property, businesses and jobs, even to dress as they please have all been swept aside, and to what end? The pandemic rages on and Lansing’s failed efforts to control the spread of the virus is blamed on the people themselves rather than the scientific community’s admitted lack of data and understanding of COVID-19.”

The manifesto continued: “Enough is enough. We have taken an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, an oath we take very seriously. Accordingly, we hereby put the State of Michigan on NOTICE that we have no intention of participating in the unconstitutional destruction of our citizens’ economic security and Liberty. We further declare our intention to take no action whatsoever in furtherance of this terribly misguided agenda. Finally, we call upon the Michigan Legislature to exercise their co-equal authority by adopting constitutionally sound measures which limit the unchecked exercise of executive power, which restore individual responsibility and accountability, and which return Michigan to the ranks of freedom-loving governments everywhere.”

The Baraga County elected officials who signed the declaration include Sheriff Joe Brogan, Clerk Wendy Goodreau, Treasurer Jill Tollefson, Prosecuting Attorney Joseph O’Leary and Commissioners Gale Eilola, Dan Robillard, Will Wiggins, William Rolof and Lyle Olsen.

The state of Michigan appears to have met the three key metrics that officials said would determine whether they will allow the current COVID-19 lockdown to be lifted. Officials said they wanted them to decline, and all three have fallen since the current lockdown was ordered on Nov. 15.

This lockdown has, among other things, closed all Michigan bars and restaurants for indoor dining. It took effect on Nov. 18 and remains in place as of Jan 11.

Officials have indicated that before allowing the state to reopen, they wanted to see a declining trend in three specific numbers: percentage of adult inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients; COVID-19 cases per 1,000,000 residents; and percentage of COVID-19 tests that are positive.

Note that the number of people who have tested positive for the disease is likely a fraction of the number who have actually contracted it, since many never get tested because they have few or no symptoms.

Here are the figures and trends for those indicators:

Percentage of adult inpatient beds in hospitals occupied by COVID-19 patients:

Nov. 13: 3,564 COVID-19 patients and 21,335 adult hospital beds — 16.7% COVID-19 occupancy rate

Jan. 8: 2,516 COVID-19 patients and 21,446 adult hospital beds —11.7% COVID-19 occupancy rate

COVID-19 cases per 1,000,000 residents (7-day average)

Nov. 15: 733 per million

Jan. 9: 192 per million

Percentage of COVID-19 tests that are positive (7-day average)

Nov. 15: 13.9%

Jan. 7: 9.7%

One of the metrics has ticked upward since Dec. 2 — the percentage of COVID-19 cases that are positive. This fell to 8.3% (7-day average) on Dec. 26, but has increased to 9.7%, as of Jan. 7. So some of the criteria used to determine whether to open depend on the starting and ending dates selected for the particular timeline being examined.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.