Michigan - Coronavirus COVID-19

[BetteDavisEyes]

5 data points that show Michigan’s COVID-19 position heading into 2022 (clickondetroit.com)

Cases, deaths at pandemic highs to end 2021 in Michigan

The Michigan COVID-19 landscape heading into 2022 is perhaps murkier than it was heading into 2021.

Last year, we knew vaccines would be rolled out to the masses by spring, and most of us assumed we’d be putting the COVID-19 pandemic behind us by the fall, or at least by the end of 2021. As Lee Corso would say, not so fast.

The delta variant in the summer and fall, and now the omicron variant, have thrown some curve balls at the world’s pandemic plans, and now COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing around the globe, with Michigan setting a new daily case record in the state’s final data release of the year on Wednesday.

Of course, not every COVID-19 surge is the same, and not every country is the same. In the U.S., vaccines plus booster shots can provide a high level of protection against severe illness and death with the omicron variant, and early data shows omicron may be less severe than previous variants, despite spreading faster. But we need more data on all of that.

We also have new treatments rolling out, including a pill from Pfizer that treats the most serious symptoms of COVID-19, especially in higher risk patients, on top of existing treatments like monoclonal antibodies.

Still, the sheer volume of cases we’re likely to see to start 2022 could be enough to overwhelm some of our health care systems, which are already near a breaking point.

Here are five data points that show where the COVID-19 pandemic is in Michigan heading into 2022...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan officials call masks in schools 'critical' in letter to superintendents (detroitnews.com)

Lansing — Universal indoor mask-wearing at schools is "critical" to ensuring students can continue learning in person, two top Michigan officials wrote in a letter to superintendents on Thursday.

Elizabeth Hertel, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services, and Michael Rice, the state superintendent, signed the message, which came a day after Michigan reported a record number of new COVID-19 infections.

In addition to encouraging mask-wearing, the officials also recommended "regular testing" in school settings and advised superintendents to postpone or use remote technology to hold large gatherings involving more than 100 people...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

MDHHS to Michigan schools: More COVID action needed as students, staff return after break (clickondetroit.com)

MDHHS urges vaccine clinics, universal masking amid omicron surge

Michigan’s health department is urging Michigan schools to double-down on preventative measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 as students and staff return to buildings after the holiday break.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and Michigan Department of Education (MDE) are sending a letter to superintendents with recommendations, intended to keep school buildings open and allow students and staff to return to school safely after winter break.

The guidance comes as Michigan set a new record for daily COVID cases on Wednesday, and the U.S. set a record for daily cases this week, as the omicron variant rapidly spreads...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Beaumont Health restricts visitors as COVID cases surge in Michigan (detroitnews.com)

Beaumont Health is adjusting its visitor policy as Michigan continues to battle its fourth surge of COVID-19.

Rising positivity rates and the highly contagious omicron variant have led the state's largest hospital system to limit the number of visitors for patients again...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Beaumont Health updates hospital visitation policy as COVID cases climb (clickondetroit.com)

Updated policy limits visitor rotation

As hospitals continue to be overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, Beaumont is adjusting its visitation policy.

Beaumont Health said it is taking additional steps to protect inpatients, staff and visitors at all eight Beaumont Health hospitals as COVID cases and positivity rates continue to climb in Michigan...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan State University to begin winter 2022 semester virtually amid COVID surge (clickondetroit.com)

Classes begin online on Jan. 10 after spike in cases on campus

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Students at Michigan State University will be starting the upcoming semester online as the campus community and state continue to battle a surge in COVID-19 spread.

University president Samuel Stanley announced Friday that classes will begin remotely for the winter 2022 semester beginning on Jan. 10 due to a spike in COVID infections among the campus community. MSU courses will operate remotely for at least the first three weeks into the semester, officials said...

MSU to start semester with remote classes amid COVID spread (detroitnews.com)

Michigan State University will hold classes remotely to start the new semester in January, according to the provost, as rising cases of COVID-19 continue.

The first three weeks of the spring semester, which begins Jan. 10, will not be in-person, according to an email to faculty...

Here we go again. This is probably just the beginning of school closures

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Detroit public schools cancel classes Monday-Wednesday to configure COVID plan (clickondetroit.com)

DPSCD staff face new coronavirus vaccine mandate, students next

DETROIT – In-person and online classes have been canceled for Detroit public schools next week as the district conducts widespread COVID testing and works to establish a learning plan amid an ongoing virus surge.

The Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) has canceled all classes on Monday, Jan. 3 through Wednesday, Jan. 5 in an effort to test all employees for COVID-19 before students return to school. The announcement comes as Detroit, along with the rest of the state of Michigan, sees a surge in virus cases, likely partly driven by the new omicron variant...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan State to require fans to provide proof of COVID vaccination or negative test (detroitnews.com)

As the omicron variant continues to spread across the country, Michigan State became the latest university to require fans attending indoor sporting events to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the event.

The announcement came on Saturday shortly after Michigan had made a similar announcement. Other Big Ten universities have already done so, including Illinois...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan parents have concerns as students return to in-person learning after holiday break (clickondetroit.com)

‘It feels like we’re sending our kids back into a war zone’

On the heels of a break for the holidays, Michigan students are finally getting ready to make the return to in person learning.

However, because of where we are with COVID-19 some parents are saying that we may really need to pump on the breaks. But U.S. education secretary Miguel Cardinal insists that students should have in-person learning despite another COVID surge caused largely by the omicron variant.

“We’ve been very clear,” Cardinal said. “Our expectation is for schools to be open full-time for students for in-person learning. We remember the impact of school closures on students last year, and our science is better. We have better tools. We have $10 billion American rescue plan for surveillance testing, vaccinations are available now for children ages five and up.”...

 

[Yesiamapirate]

5 data points that show Michigan’s COVID-19 position heading into 2022 (clickondetroit.com)

Cases, deaths at pandemic highs to end 2021 in Michigan

The Michigan COVID-19 landscape heading into 2022 is perhaps murkier than it was heading into 2021.

Last year, we knew vaccines would be rolled out to the masses by spring, and most of us assumed we’d be putting the COVID-19 pandemic behind us by the fall, or at least by the end of 2021. As Lee Corso would say, not so fast.

The delta variant in the summer and fall, and now the omicron variant, have thrown some curve balls at the world’s pandemic plans, and now COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing around the globe, with Michigan setting a new daily case record in the state’s final data release of the year on Wednesday.

Of course, not every COVID-19 surge is the same, and not every country is the same. In the U.S., vaccines plus booster shots can provide a high level of protection against severe illness and death with the omicron variant, and early data shows omicron may be less severe than previous variants, despite spreading faster. But we need more data on all of that.

We also have new treatments rolling out, including a pill from Pfizer that treats the most serious symptoms of COVID-19, especially in higher risk patients, on top of existing treatments like monoclonal antibodies.

Still, the sheer volume of cases we’re likely to see to start 2022 could be enough to overwhelm some of our health care systems, which are already near a breaking point.

Here are five data points that show where the COVID-19 pandemic is in Michigan heading into 2022...

I wonder if the parents who feel school is a "war zone" are also isolating their kids from sleepovers, restaurants, sports participation, ballet and other indoor forms of entertainment and enrichment. Or is it just school that is dangerous?
MOO!

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer isolating after husband tests positive for COVID (clickondetroit.com)

Entire family vaccinated, boosted

Whitmer's husband tests positive for COVID; governor isolating (detroitnews.com)

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

COVID cases spike on University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus as classes resume (clickondetroit.com)

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Why some UM faculty plan to defy university, teach classes remotely (detroitnews.com)

More than 1,000 University of Michigan faculty members have signed a letter indicating they either plan to teach online as classes begin Wednesday or support those who do so in defiance of school President Mark Schlissel.

The letter reviewed by The Detroit News included the signatures of nearly 20% of Michigan's 5,200faculty members, who said safety concerns prompted their decision to teach virtually for the first two weeks of the new semester. Michigan is seeing record-setting numbers of COVID-19 cases fueled in part by the omicron variant of COVID-19...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan Gov. Whitmer says she tested negative for COVID after husband contracts virus (clickondetroit.com)

Whitmer tests negative for COVID-19 after husband contracts virus (detroitnews.com)

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Beaumont reaching 'breaking point' with COVID-19 case surge; how it's reacting (detroitnews.com)

Michigan's largest hospital system warned Thursday that it had reached a "breaking point," resulting in a federal medical team extending its 30-day commitment to Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn an additional 30 days.

The number of the eight hospital system's COVID-19 patients increased by about 40% over the past week to 750 patients. About 65% of those hospitalized in the eight-hospital, 3,375-bed system are unvaccinated and about 8% have received a booster, according to the hospital system.

The federal team extended its stay as more than 430 of Beaumont's 33,000 employees are out with COVID-19 symptoms...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Flashpoint Interview: University of Michigan immunologist says pandemic will end in 2022 (clickondetroit.com)

 

[Sundog]

Flashpoint Interview: University of Michigan immunologist says pandemic will end in 2022 (clickondetroit.com)

Informative interview on what we might expect this year and beyond.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Oakland University keeping classes remote through the end of January (detroitnews.com)

Oakland University is extending its move to remote classes through the end of January to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, officials announced Monday.

"Due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, OU will continue to deliver most Winter 2022 courses, including hybrid and in-person classes, in an remote and online format through Monday, January 31," Provost Britt Rios-Ellis and Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Glenn McIntosh wrote in a letter to the community.

"We are hopeful that by waiting until February 1, we will be able to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and return to face-to-face classes more seamlessly."...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Michigan health officials update COVID guidance for K-12 schools (clickondetroit.com)

Guidance now reflects updates made by CDC

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan health officials updated their K-12 school quarantine and isolation guidance to reflect updates made by the CDC.

The CDC’s modifications to the guidance shortens the quarantine and isolation periods to as short as five days in some circumstances.

These changes will allow students, teachers and staff to return to school sooner after infection, under certain circumstances. Quarantine guidance is also updated, allowing students and staff to return to school sooner after a school-based exposure to COVID...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Eastern Michigan extends online classes amid fourth wave of COVID-19 (detroitnews.com)

Eastern Michigan University President James Smith announced Tuesday that online class instruction would be extended through Jan. 23 because of the continued spread of COVID-19.

"We did not reach this decision lightly, and did so after carefully evaluating the conditions in our community, rapidly-evolving guidance from government health agencies, and feedback from the EMU Safe Steering Committee," Smith wrote in a message to the campus community.

"We understand that the shift to fully remote classes for two weeks will impose a burden on both instructors and students. We believe, however, that this two-week modification is important to managing the dramatic increase in cases of COVID-19 occurring across the nation, the state, and our region."...

I wonder how parents and students feel about financing a college education that doesn't include in-person instruction?