Holland Reporter

State Sen. Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) recently added his support to Senate Resolution 125, which denounces Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s policy requiring nursing homes to take in nonresident patients who have tested positive for COVID-19.

In a press release on MiSenateGOP, Nesbitt said Whitmer’s defense that little was known early in the crisis has one big hole in it: everyone knew the dangers of exposing the elderly to the coronavirus.

“Doctors warned from day one that older people were at the greatest risk of death from COVID-19. Despite this, our governor still decided to place sick patients in facilities with one of our most vulnerable populations,” Nesbitt said in a MiSenateGOP release.

As noted in the resolution, an overwhelming majority of coronavirus-linked deaths in Michigan – 87% – have been among those 60 and older.

In addressing that figure, the resolution notes that Whitmer’s policy requires nursing homes that are at or below 80% capacity to dedicate a section of their facility to house coronavirus patients from other nursing homes.

Though Republicans had been pressuring Whitmer’s administration to release data on how many were dying in Michigan’s nursing homes due to the coronavirus ever since she gave the order on April 15, the executive branch disregarded the requests for two months.

It was only on June 15 when Michiganders learned that some 1,900 had already died in nursing home facilities across the state, according to MiSenateGOP.

“A resolution cannot reverse time or change the results of the governor’s tragic decision. However, our bipartisan vote today is a clear message to our governor,” Nesbitt told MiSenateGOP. “It is a plea on behalf of our constituents — from those who have lost parents or grandparents."

“They deserve answers,” he continued. “We must replace these flawed policies with measures that will protect nursing home residents, rather than bringing the dangers of a global pandemic to their doorsteps.”