(WXYZ) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke on Tuesday afternoon, the day the state fully reopens and COVID-19 restrictions are dropped.
Last week, Whitmer announced the state would drop several restrictions, including the capacity restrictions and mask guidelines, on June 22. It's about 9 days ahead of schedule.
Originally, the state had tied reopening to vaccination rates, and we wouldn't get to this point until we were at 70%. Then, the state said it would happen on July 1, before changing it to June 22.
"We’re really hitting this virus on a lot of fronts and we’re in a stronger position now, so we thought it made sense to move forward," Whitmer said on CNN Tuesday morning. "It’s an exciting moment after a long tough year for everyone."
Michigan currently sits at 61.2% of the population with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. It hit 60% on June 10 and 55% on May 10 as vaccination rates have steadily slowed.
This is an exciting announcement that we are dropping the orders. Effective today there are no mask orders, there are no capacity restrictions," Whitmer said. "Effective today, our Pure Michigan summer is back."
The state also said that the case rate is the lowest it's been since the pandemic started, with fewer than 18 new cases per million people, and a positivity rate of under 2%.