Neighbor States’ ‘Uncontrolled Growth’ Justifies COVID Lockdown? Data Says Not

In defending an extension of the ongoing lockdown of the state’s bars and restaurants, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon signed on to a statement that deserves greater scrutiny.

It was included in the Jan. 13 departmental order extending a statewide lockdown on all dining room restaurant service to Feb. 1, and claimed Michigan’s neighboring states were experiencing an uncontrolled growth in the spread of the coronavirus.

The statement included this: “On November 15, 2020, MDHHS issued an order to slow the high and rapidly increasing rate of spread of COVID-19. Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths remained high through early December, threatening hospital and public health capacity. On December 7, 2020, and again on December 18, 2020, MDHHS issued orders sustaining those protections. These orders played a crucial role in slowing the spread in Michigan while many states experienced uncontrolled growth, including many neighboring states in the Midwest.”

The chart below contains information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showing the number of daily confirmed new cases in Michigan and surrounding states. It does not show “uncontrolled growth” in any of these states.