Gov. 
Gretchen 
Whitmer 

announced 
her 
“MI 
Vacc 

to 
Normal 
Challenge” 
in 
a 

Thursday 
morning 
press 

conference, outlining a four-
step 
plan 
to 
gradually 
lift 

COVID-19 restrictions as state’ 
climbs from 48.8% vaccination 
of residents 16 and older to the 
goal of 70%. 

Currently, 
all 
Michigan 

residents above the age of 16 
are eligible to receive a vaccine. 
Two weeks after 55% of the 
eligible population has received 
at least one 
shot, Whitmer 

intends to lift the remote work 
rule, an executive order from 
Whitmer that any work that can 
be done remotely, must be done 
remotely. 

The next step comes two 

weeks after 60% of the eligible 
population, 
or 
4.9 
million 

Michigan residents, receives the 
vaccine. At this phase, Whitmer 
will increase capacity at indoor 
sports 
stadiums, 
conference 

halls, 
banquet 
centers 
and 

funeral homes to 25% and raise 
the allowed capacity for indoor 
exercise 
facilities 
and 
gyms 

from 30% to 50%. At this phase, 
Whitmer said she will also lift 
the curfew currently in place at 
restaurants and bars. 

Once 65% of the eligible 

population has received at least 
one shot, Whitmer intends to 
lift 
all 
restrictions 
limiting 

indoor capacity at restaurants 
and bars to 100 people and all 
other indoor facilities to 300 
people, while still enforcing 
social 
distancing 
guidelines 

between parties. The plan also 
states that guidelines relating 
to residential gatherings will be 
relaxed at this stage. 

Once 70% of those 16 or 

older 
— 
about 
5.9 
million 

Michiganders — have received 
a 
shot, 
Whitmer 
will 
lift 

all 
restrictions 
relating 
to 

gatherings and the Face Mask 
Order, with a possible exception 
if 
COVID-19 
numbers 
are 

increasing and threatening the 
medical system, or if a vaccine-

resistant variant emerges. This 
is the fourth and final step of 
Whitmer’s plan.

Whitmer 
said 
these 
steps 

are designed to keep Michigan 
residents 
safe 
as 
the 
state 

continues 
its 
economic 

recovery. 

“The 
MI 
Vacc 
to 
Normal 

Challenge 
outlines 
steps 

we can take to emerge from 
this pandemic as we hit our 
vaccination targets together,” 
Whitmer said. “If you haven’t 
already, I encourage you to rise 
to the challenge and be a part of 
the solution so we can continue 
our 
economic 
recovery 
and 

have the summer we all crave.” 

In her briefing, Whitmer also 

expressed her trust in vaccines. 
She said she believes it is in the 

state’s best interest for everyone 
to be vaccinated in order to 
return to normal.

“Vaccines are our best chance 

of putting this pandemic behind 
us and returning to normal,” 
Whitmer said. “They represent 
hope and healing. If you want 
to learn more, I encourage you 
to talk to your family doctor, 
learn about the safe, effective 
vaccines and how they can save 
your life and the lives of those 
you love.”

Whitmer said that goals at 

each step will make for the best 
transition, 
emphasizing 
the 

state’s need for teamwork. 

“If we work together, we can 

get this done,” Whitmer said. 
“We have to have a set of clear 
goals to accompany every step 
of this process. As we drive 
toward our eventual goal of 
returning to normal, we will 
pass checkpoints along the way 
that will allow us to gradually 
lift more limits and eventually, 
we’ll get over that finish line.”

3

Thursday, May 6, 2021

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

“If we work 

together, we can 

get this done”

NEWS

On Saturday alone, more than 

400,000 
new 
COVID-19 
cases 

were recorded in one day in 
India. India’s healthcare system 
is experiencing severe shortages 
of hospital beds, oxygen and 
medication, leaving Indians to 
turn to social media to request 
simple supplies. 

Professor 
of 
biostatistics 

Bhramar Mukherjee has been 
actively involved with modeling 
COVID-19 metrics since March 
2020. Mukherjee predicted on 
February 27, 2021 that a second 
wave was coming in India and 
called for the public and policy 
makers to continue to adhere to 
COVID-19 guidelines. Critics say 
that India was unprepared for 
this 
second-wave 
referencing 

the lack of supplies and public 
compliance. 

Mukherjee is one of many 

in the University of Michigan 
community expressing support 
and concern for the deadly 
situation in India.

Rackham 
student 
Maxwell 

Salvatore was part of the team 
that built the COV-IND shiny app. 
The app uses publicly available 
data and other metrics to make 
prediction models.

Salvatore predicts the peak 

of the second wave will come in 
mid-May, at which point there will 
be 500,000 new cases each day. 

“We think that the actual 

number of cases might be 10 to 
14 times the reported numbers,” 
Salvatore said. “These numbers 
are people, and the pictures 
and videos that are coming out 
are devastating and calls for the 
coming together of the global 
community.”

On 
April 
27, 
University 

President Mark Schlissel released 
a statement expressing empathy 
and solidarity for those affected 
by the crisis. The statement 
encouraged community members 
to donate to the American India 
Foundation’s 
COVID 
response 

fund and listed other resources.

“India has long been one of 

our most cherished international 
partners 
in 
education 
and 

research. About 1,000 of our 
current 
students 
and 
6,000 

alumni hail from India,” Schlissel 
said. “The U.S. government has 

pledged to help, and we urge 
immediate 
and 
meaningful 

action. 
We 
are 
sharing 
our 

expertise with elected leaders to 
advise on how to best provide 
assistance.”

The U-M India Advisory Board, 

along with the U-M India Alumni 
Association, 
has 
led 
various 

initiatives to share medical and 
public health expertise with India.

Student 
groups 
across 

campus, including the South 
Asian American Health Initiative 
(SAAHI), South Asian Awareness 
Network (SAAN), Indian Student 
Association (ISA) and Project RISHI 
have collaborated to raise money 
for the Breathe India Fundraiser, 
which aims to provide oxygen 
concentrators 
to 
hospitals 
in 

Delhi, a COVID-19 hotspot. SAAHI 
has said they have raised $1,103 as 
of Sunday.

Public Health junior Nithya 

Arun, SAAHI executive director 
and Central Student Government 
President, started the initiative 
to alleviate the severe oxygen 
shortage in the country. Arun’s 
grandmother lives in New Delhi 
and has hypertension, which 
occasionally requires an oxygen 
tank. 

“(My grandmother) is doing 

fine, but there are so many 
people who do not have oxygen 
right now because of how badly 
this crisis was managed,” Arun 
said. “These incidents of COVID 
were 
preventable, 
(and) 
the 

Indian government could have 
taken action before it got this 
bad. Unfortunately, they put their 
own interests ahead of the well-
being of the people.”

LSA junior Mishaal Yazdani, 

incoming co-director for SAAN, 
said the virus has taken its toll on 
developing countries like India. 
Yazdani encouraged the United 
States to share its resources with 
other countries who need it.

“I’m from Pakistan, but we are 

all one community at the end of 
the day, one human population,” 
Yazdani 
said. 
“It’s 
really 

important that we are trying our 
best, donating and spreading 
awareness about this crisis.”

There 
has 
been 
growing 

concern over President Joe Biden’s 
plans to help vaccinate the rest of 
the world. Biden has pledged to 
send protective equipment and 
oxygen to India, in addition to 
providing the country with doses 

of the AstraZeneca vaccine once 
it is safe to do so.

Chair of Radiology Vikas Gulani 

is part of Health4theWorld, an 
organization 
founded 
by 
Dr. 

Bhavya Rehani that aims to 
provide basic healthcare services 
worldwide.

Gulani 
and 
a 
team 
of 

physicians across the U.S. and 
India collaborated on multiple 
projects to ease the burden on 
the healthcare system in India. 
One of their main efforts is to 
send oxygen concentrators to 
hospitals in India. Other projects 
aim to provide services such as 
palliative care, grief counseling 
and telemedicine. The team also 
sent healthcare kits with masks, 
vitamins, pharmaceuticals and 
pulse oximeters to Indians at 
home.

“The goal was to provide people 

with some way of taking care of 
themselves at home if they’re 
sick, so as to not overburden the 
hospitals,” Gulani said. “Every 
single bit of our work has been a 
labor of love and people donating 
their time.”

Gulani said they decided to 

partner with organizations in 
India that prioritize transparency 
and 
accountability 
to 
ensure 

every dollar donated directly 
impacts patients and physicians 
in India. The team’s fundraiser 
has raised $52,968 of its $100,000 
goal at the time of publishing.

Chief of Hospital Medicine 

Vineet 
Chopra 
and 
Krishnan 

Raghavendran, Director of the 
U-M Center for Global Surgery, 
are part of India COVID SOS, a 
group of physicians, scientists and 
policy makers from across the U.S. 
providing home care resources, 
medication and equipment to 
people in India.

Chopra called on the U-M 

community to come together and 
check in on friends and family in 
India. He stressed how people and 
countries are all interconnected, 
pointing to the fact that the 
Indian variant, B.1.617, has been 
reported 
in 
Clinton 
County, 

Michigan.

“There is no such thing as 

a pandemic in one part of the 
world,” 
Chopra 
said. 
“What 

happens in India could affect us 
(in the United States), it’s really 
important.”

U-M community shares concern for 
COVID-19 crisis in India

Whitmer announces “MI Vacc to 
Normal Challenge,” plans to lift 
restrictions as state approaches 

70% vaccination

VARSHA VEDAPUDI
Daily Staff Reporter

LILY GOODING AND NADIR AL-SAIDI

Summer News Editor & Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at michigandaily.com