CDC director offered a solution to the Michigan COVID-19 surge: 'Shut things down'

• CDC director Rochelle Walensky spoke about the COVID-19 spike in Michigan on Monday.
• She said the state should reimpose restrictions to stop the spread of the virus.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky said Michigan should put coronavirus restrictions back in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"Really what we need to do in those situations is shut things down," Walensky said during a press briefing on Monday. "I think if we tried to vaccinate our way out of what is happening in Michigan, we will be disappointed that it took so long for the vaccine to work - to actually have the impact."

Michigan has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks. Some, such as former Food and Drug Administration head Scott Gottlieb, have said the Biden administration should send more vaccines to the state in response.

But Walensky said on Monday that additional vaccines won't be as effective as reducing transmission.

"The answer to that is to really close things down, to go back to our basics, to go back to where we were last spring, last summer, and to shut things down, to flatten the curve, to decrease contact with one another, to test to the extent that we have available, to contact trace," Walensky added.