Downriver Today

Gerry Anderson, executive chair of DTE Energy, recently appeared on WJR’s "The Frank Beckmann Show" to discuss concerns among local community and business leaders about the potential for the latest wave of confirmed COVID-19 cases that has, as predicted, occurred across the entire nation, including Michigan.

“I think a lot of employers are seeing cases show up in their workers, really, though, coming from community spread,” Anderson told Beckmann.

Anderson said that recent increases in positive COVID-19 tests indicate that the state is on the verge of a severe second wave “if we don’t act to turn it back.”

Anderson acknowledged that the business leaders he has talked with who do business worldwide are seeing an increase in numbers across the world.

“There is a serious second wave sweeping through Europe right now,” he told Beckmann. “It’s intense over there.” The same is true across the U.S., according to Anderson.

Beckmann asked Anderson, if measures implemented to slow the spread of the virus in Europe and across the world have not been effective, what can Michigan do to achieve different results?

Anderson said that “fatigue” and a “lack of will” are why locations across the world are seeing rising cases numbers, regardless of the mandates in place from their governments.

That is why he and others are calling on legislators in Michigan to enact new mandates.

Anderson said that businesses provide a good template for success, claiming that there hasn’t been any spread of the coronavirus in workplaces anywhere in the state “as long as we adhere to the basic practices.”

Beckmann asked Anderson which practices have proven the most effective for him and his employees.

“Masks are critical. If we’ve got people either interacting with the public or interacting with each other, there is a radical difference as to whether you wear a mask or don’t,” Anderson told Beckmann.