(WXYZ) — As more parts of the state reopen, 7 Action News Reporter Brian Abel spoke one-on-one with Michigan's top doctor, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun about what Michiganders can expect in the days and weeks ahead as we continue to fight COVID-19.
Khaldun said there's cautious optimism with the number of new cases and deaths in Michigan from COVID-19, but we're not out of the woods yet.
"I think wearing masks and social distancing will be a way of life in the state of Michigan and across the country hopefully for those who are using best practices probably well into the next calendar year," she said.
Khaldun said though we're learning a lot about the virus, it's still not time to fully reopen.
"Unfortunately the risk is not zero right now and so we still are recommending this important social distancing. There’s no vaccine. there’s no anti-viral," she said. "I'm not saying no ones going to be able to hug their family members for another year, but we want to make sure there’s more immunity in the community and there’s a treatment and its not as wide spread as it currently is."
You can watch her entire interview below.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
Read our daily Coronavirus Live Blog for the latest updates and news on coronavirus.
Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
Find out how you can help metro Detroit restaurants struggling during the pandemic.
See all of our Helping Each Other stories.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.