Aiming to curb the spread of COVID-19, Washtenaw County Health Department officials issued an emergency stay-in-place order for University of Michigan students, effective immediately.
“The situation locally has become critical, and this order is necessary to reverse the current increase in cases,” Washtenaw County Health Officer Jimena Loveluck said in a news release. “We must continue to do what we can to minimize the impact on the broader community and to ensure we have the public health capacity to fully investigate cases and prevent additional spread of illness.”
Health department officials said cases among University of Michigan students accounts for 60 percent of local cases. They said many of the cases stem from large social gatherings.
Officials also noted that a stay-at-home order is different from a quarantine because it allows official and essential actions, along with COVID-19 prevention measures. Students are allowed to go to class, to dining halls and to any work that they can’t do remotely. But for the most part, they must stay home.
“The university has been working closely with the Health Department all along in response to the pandemic and supports this decision to issue this stay at home order,” Robert Ernst, executive director of U-M’s University Health Service and associate vice president for Student Life, said in the release. “This action is intended to reduce the strain on our capacities for contact tracing and quarantine and isolation housing. Many individuals and off-campus residences are cooperating fully, and we hope this additional guidance on limiting social activities reverses the trend of increased cases related to social gatherings.”
The order will remain in effect through November 3 at 7 a.m.
Photo: Getty Images