Group 'Michiganders against excessive quarantine' explodes onlineclose
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A Facebook page called "Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine" has drawn 250,000 followers, according to reports.
Garrett Soldano started the page after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week expanded the state’s stay-at-home order to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
He was not expecting to draw so many followers.
MICHIGAN GOV. WHITMER FACING BACKLASH FOR GOING TO 'RADICAL EXTREMES' WITH STAY-AT-HOME ORDER
In this image provided by the Michigan Office of the Governor, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer addresses the state during a speech in Lansing, Mich., April 6. (Michigan Office of the Governor via AP)
"I was like, 'I'm going to reach out to 500 people, hopefully there are 500 people like me,'" the Van Buren County resident told Fox 2 Detroit.
"The solution to this can't outweigh the potential of what can happen if we continue to shut our economy down," he said. "The suicides, the stress. All these other things that will happen if we continue to extend this out."
The station reported that Michiganders can go shopping at stores like Target and Walmart, but cannot buy certain items deemed non-essential while there.
"When you are taking away our basic freedoms, when you are telling us what we can, and can't buy, that is where I have a problem,” Soldano told the station. “That is where I have decided to stand tall."
Soldano’s group has discussed initiating a recall of Whitmer and is staging a protest at the state capitol on Wednesday, according to WBCK-FM.
The radio station also reports that Whitmer's extended emergency shutdown order had many state residents praising her.
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Soldano told the Fox 2 the state’s residents are hurting now.
"And people are hurting to provide for their own family,” he said. “And that's where I have a problem. That is where this virus does not have the teeth to support that."
A total of 25,635 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Michigan and there have 1,602 deaths,as of Sunday, acccording to the Michigan Department of Health.
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As of Sunday, Michigan has conducted nearly 86,000 coronavirus tests. By comparison New York has conducted 478,357 tests.
