The Berrien County Board of Commissioners is starting to think about how some aspects of life could return to semi-normal. At this week’s meeting, Board Chair Mac Elliott noted Oronoko Township has approved a resolution asking for some local discretion on the ability to follow CDC guidelines for COVID-19. Elliott wondered if the board thought some autonomy should be requested for the county as most COVID-19 cases are around Detroit. Commissioner Bob Harrison urged caution, talking about the number of local coronavirus cases.
“Some of the estimates are that you take a look at the number of deaths in the county and multiply that by a thousand,” Harrison said. “So we could have up to 7,000 people infected with the virus, and only a fraction of that being recorded by the state of Michigan.”
Elliott agreed local action should be made with the knowledge the illness needs to be taken seriously.
“I don’t think anybody would want to go racing forward in any kind of reckless fashion. I’m hoping we can balance the two.”
Commissioners Michael Majarek and Terri Freehling both said they would like to see some easing of COVID-19 restrictions for some businesses. In the end, the board took no action, but Elliott said it could review what other counties have done in the coming weeks.
