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DEARBORN, MI – Today, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) applauded Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signing a “Stay Home, Stay Safe” Executive Order to direct all Michigan businesses and operations to temporarily suspend in-person operations that are not necessary to sustain or protect life.

The “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order becomes effective at 12:01 am on March 24, 2020 and will stay in place for at least three weeks. Individuals may only leave their home for a limited number of activities (listed below).

“Stay home. Stay safe. Save lives,” said Dingell. “This was a tough decision but the right one. Governor Whitmer’s leadership is keeping us all safe. We all have a responsibility to heed the advice of experts and leaders. Remember not to panic, not to hoard, and do our part to protect our community. Listening to the experts, doctors, and scientists I have stayed home for a week. And am prepared to stay home for another three weeks. Everyone who knows me, knows I have never done this in my life. But I am because I must. We all must.”

Whitmer’s Executive Order 2020-21 prohibits all businesses and operations from requiring workers to leave their homes, unless those workers are necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operations. Businesses and operations are to designate the workers that meet those criteria, and must adopt social distancing practices and other mitigation measures to protect workers and patrons in the performance of that necessary in-person work.

Additionally, under Executive Order 2020-21, all public and private gatherings of any number of people occurring among persons outside a single household are temporarily prohibited. People may leave the house to perform for limited, necessary purposes, and may engage in outdoor activities like walking, hiking, running, cycling, or any other recreational activity, consistent with remaining at least six feet from people from outside a person’s household and with other restrictions imposed by prior executive orders.

YOU CAN:

• Go to the grocery store or pick up take-out food.
• Go to the pharmacy to pick up a needed prescription.
• Engage in outdoor activities like walking, hiking, running, biking.
• Go to the hospital or secure any care necessary to address a medical emergency or to preserve your health or the health of a loved one.
• Fill your car with gas.
• Return to Michigan to a home or place of residence from outside the State.
• Leave the State for a home or residence elsewhere.
• Walk your pets and take them to the veterinarian for needed medical care.

YOU MAY NOT:

• Leave the home to work unless your employer designates you as a critical infrastructure worker.
• Participate in any public gatherings.
• Visit someone in the hospital, nursing home, or other residential care facilities (with limited exceptions).
• Go to the mall or to restaurants.

BUSINESSES THAT REMAIN OPEN FOR IN-PERSON WORK MUST TAKE AGGRESSIVE STEPS TO MINIMIZE THE VIRUS’S SPREAD. THEY MUST:

• Promote remote work to the fullest extent possible.
• Restrict the number of workers present in-person on the job.
• Keep employees at least six feet from one another to the maximum extent possible and enabling social distancing for customers who are standing in line.
• Any other social distancing practices and mitigation measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control.

Below is a list of further resources and information from Dingell’s office:

• Coronavirus information
• File for unemployment
• Small Businesses can apply for low-interest disaster loans
• School Based Food Service Interactive Map
• Food Banks and Kitchens in Michigan's 12th Congressional District