At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said due in part to variants, (mainly B-1.1.7.) of Covid-19, Michigan's infection rate is at 18% (five times higher than in February.) and some hospitals are at 90% capacity with Covid patients. She said the state is ramping up specific treaments for those suffering with Covid.

The governor did not impose any new restrictions, but warned against not wearing, masks, sitting indoors at restaurants and other big gatherings, and continuing virtual learning.

The state's head medical person, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, says many of the new infections are amongst younger persons. Both she and Whitmer said the vaccination rate for persons 16 and older is currently 27.7%. The state is averaging 87,000 doses this week, which is below the stated goal of 100,000 per day.

Whitmer again pushed for all Michiganders to get vaccinated, (giving a nod to Pfizer's Portage manufacturing plant, again.) She also spent the first part of her talk urging Michiganders who are experiencing strong and severe symptoms to talk to their doctors, and get treatment with either Remdesivir and/or Regeneron. Remdesivir is in a class of medications called antivirals. "It works by stopping the virus from spreading in the body."

Regeneron is the maker of a medicine cocktail REGEN-COV, which is administered via IV and involves monoclonal antibodies, that the company says is effective in preventing Covid-19 symptoms. CNN reports REGEN-COV, reduced risk of symptomatic infections by 81%. But the report says those results have not been subject to peer review yet.

At the press conference, both medical persons speaking stressed the effectiveness of both the vaccines, and the efficacy of the treatments from Regeneron and Remdesivir.

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