Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the state will pay to reconnect Detroit residents who’ve had their water service interrupted for non-payment.
This is part of the state’s efforts to contain the spread the coronavirus.
Governor Whitmer says people in homes and apartments without water cannot bathe or wash their hands. Health officials say those are important ways for people to slow the spread of the virus and avoid getting sick as hundreds of cases of COVID-19 have been identified across the country.
Whitmer says that created an urgent need to act.
“At this moment, we still have no positive confirmed cases in Michigan, but it is a matter of time. We are in the minority on that.”
There could be thousands of homes in Detroit without water, but the governor has resisted calls to formally declare water shutoffs a public health emergency. Under this plan, the state would pay for reconnecting service and the utility bill for the first 30 days. After that, water bills would be limited to 25 dollars a month for the duration of the outbreak.