Doc Says Closing Doors is The Only Way to Stop Michigan's Surge

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He's probably going to take a lot of heat for expressing an unpopular opinion, but one Michigan doctor is speaking out and saying that closing doors is the only way to stop Michigan's current surge in coronavirus cases.

Dr. Matthew Sims is the Director of Infectios Disease Research at Royal Oak's Beaumont hospital. He says about 40% of the hospital's COVID patients have the B.1.1.7 variant, which is highly contagious.

He tells WXYZ-TV in Detroit that opening the state too quickly is opening the door to the spread of coronavirus.

"What happens is, when you open the state, well you're opening the door wider. Right? So you're potentially letting more virus pass through," he said. "Now you take a variant that's more contagious. and that's like then running through the door."

In the video below, Sims says that closing restaurants, shuttering in-person learning for school students, and canceling sporting events is the way to keep the spread of COVID-19 at bay.

"If you want to go the other way, you want to slow it down, you have to close the door, and that means, you know, restaurants, sporting events, in-person school, all of the places where we might be worried that it might spread," Sims says. "I know the governor doesn't want to do that and I know Dr. Khaldun doesn't want to do that. But the thing is our numbers are going up, they're not going down."

Currently, 3,300 people are hospitalized in Michgan with COVID-19. As of this morning (4/7), there are currently 1,998 reported cases of the B.1.1.7 variant in our state.