Gov. Gretchen Whitmer encouraged people to stay home with their own families over the Thanksgiving and winter holidays to reduce the spread of COVID-19. | stock photo
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer encouraged people to stay home with their own families over the Thanksgiving and winter holidays to reduce the spread of COVID-19. | stock photo
In a study that was conducted by the University of Michigan, it's been found that public health measures, such as limiting gathering sizes and encouraging social distancing during the holidays, likely helped to save lives in the state.
Though the measures were unpopular with some residents at the time, the data seems to support the decision to restrict movement during the holiday season.
“Our modeling suggests that the state’s social-distancing measures, although challenging for Michiganders, prevented illness and deaths, providing some relief to our already stretched health care system,” Associate Professor Marisa Eisenberg said, according to the University of Michigan's news website.
The data in the study shows that about 109,000 cases of COVID-19 were prevented by implementing the measures between Nov. 15 and Jan 8. With a moderate fatality rate being assumed, it is concluded that these measures could very well have saved about 2,000 deaths. With that same fatality rate being factored into the other measures that the state took, University of Michigan researchers estimate that about 2,800 lives were saved in Michigan since the beginning of the pandemic.
The data was sourced and organized using University of Michigan COVID-19 modeling data with input from the Michigan Disease Surveillance System, Oxford Coronavirus Government Response Tracker and Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus database.
Those conducting the study observed data from before the Nov. 15 "Pause to Save Lives" order handed down by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
One of the key metrics that the study used was the "government response index," which is a measure of how active governments were in enabling protection measures for the population. The study found that states with a higher government response index were much more successful at containing the spread of the virus.
Michigan had a high index score, and it resulted in the lowest cases count among the Midwest over the holiday season. Indiana, which had a very low response index score, had the opposite result.
Eisenberg added, “Michiganders have been doing their part, in terms of maintaining social distancing and staying home, and those efforts have prevented illnesses and deaths across the state.”
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