Category Archives: State & Region

Whitmer says state will open to full capacity on June 22

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Posted by The Huron Hub | June 17, 2021

Governor Gretchen Whitmer today accelerated the end of all COVID-19 epidemic orders on gatherings and masking as COVID-19 cases continue to plummet following increased vaccinations. Beginning June 22, capacity in both indoor and outdoor settings will increase to 100% and the state will no longer require residents to wear a face mask.

“Today is a day that we have all been looking forward to, as we can safely get back to normal day-to-day activities and put this pandemic behind us,” said Governor Whitmer. “We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the medical experts and health professionals who stood on the front lines to keep us all safe. And we are incredibly thankful to all of the essential workers who kept our state moving. Thanks to the millions of Michiganders who rolled up their sleeves to get the safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine, we have been able to make these changes ahead of schedule. Our top priority going forward is utilizing the federal relief funding in a smart, sustainable way as we put Michigan back to work and jumpstart our economy. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure that Michigan’s families, small businesses, and communities emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever before.”

Nearly five million Michiganders ages 16 and older have received their first vaccine dose, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. According to data from the Michigan Care Improvement Registry, half of Michigan residents have completed their vaccination and over 60% have gotten their first shots.

Case rates, percent positivity and hospitalizations have all plummeted over the past several weeks. Currently, Michigan is experiencing 24.3 cases per million and has recorded a 1.9% positivity rate over the last seven days.  

“This is a great day, however, there is more work to be done,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health at MDHHS. “We can’t let our guard down as there continue to be several variants of the COVID-19 virus circulating in our state, including the concerning Delta variant. The COVID-19 vaccine is the most important tool we have to reduce the spread of the virus and I urge everyone ages 12 and up who has not yet received their vaccine to get it as soon as possible. Talk to your health care provider, your local health department or your neighborhood pharmacist about joining the millions of Michiganders who have received their vaccine.”

In addition to the Gatherings and Mask Order, additional orders are being rescinded as of June 22.These include: 

Additionally, some orders will remain in effect to protect vulnerable populations in corrections, long-term care and agriculture. Public health measures will continue for reporting requirements and COVID testing to make sure areas where community spread is high are identified, kids are safe in school and free COVID-19 tests are available. Guidance for keeping children and staff safe in schools will be released next week.  

MDHHS will continue to provide recommendations to keep Michiganders safe and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in higher risk settings and places where vulnerable populations or populations with large numbers of individuals are not yet fully vaccinated.

Wrong-way driver dies in head-on crash on I-94 in Van Buren Township

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Posted by The Huron Hub | Wednesday, June 9, 2021 — 8:15 a.m.

A wrong-way driver was killed early Wednesday morning after crashing head-on into another car on I-94 in Van Buren Township.

Michigan State Police said at 2:35 a.m., MSP 911 received information of a wrong way driver from Romulus dispatch.

The driver was driving westbound in the eastbound lanes of I-94.

The vehicle, a 1973 Buick, struck a 2021 Kia head on.

The at-fault driver was killed in the crash.

The driver of the Kia, a 19-year-old male, and the passenger, a 22-year-old female, were transported to a local hospital with serious injuries.

Investigation is continuing into the crash. The at fault driver has not been identified.

MDOT project will rebuild, repair 24 miles of I-275 from Will Carleton Road to 6 Mile Road

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By Scott Bolthouse | THE HURON HUB
Posted Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Get ready to see the orange construction barrels on I-275 soon.

Construction on I-275 in western Wayne County is expected to get started in late June/early July.

MDOT announced in February plans to repair and rebuild 24 miles of I-275 in Wayne County in six phases over three years.

The massive I-275 construction project will span from Will Carleton Road in Huron Township north to 6 Mile Road, and will affect commuters who use both directions of the freeway.

The project includes ten miles of concrete pavement repairs, 14 miles of rebuilding concrete pavement, asphalt resurfacing of four interchanges, and rebuilding concrete pavement of parts or all of six interchanges.

MDOT said the project also includes improving 65 bridges and a retaining wall, drainage improvements, sign replacements, traffic signal modernizations, intelligent transportation system (ITS) improvements, sidewalk improvements that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and tree replacements.

Additionally, a segment of the Metro Trail will be rebuilt to replace an adjacent retaining wall.

Michigan to lift COVID-19 outdoor capacity limits on June 1, increase indoor capacity to 50%

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Posted by The Huron Hub—Thursday, May 20, 2021

Gov. Whitmer announced Thursday morning that on June 1, all outdoor COVID-19 capacity limits will be lifted.

Additionally, indoor capacity limits will be increased to 50%.

Whitmer said that when the CDC changed its guidance on mask wearing, state officials went back to the drawing board to change the MI Vacc to Normal plan.

On July 1, the mask mandate and gatherings order will be lifted and there will no longer be any broad mitigation measures during the pandemic, Whitmer said.

Currently, Michigan is at 56.8% of Michiganders, 4,600,119 people, with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. It’s increased only 1.8% in the past 10 days.

Initially, the state had tied reopening to vaccination rates, with four different benchmarks.

It was going to take 70% of Michiganders vaccinated before the order was lifted. That changed with the CDC guidance.

“The vaccine is the best way to keep you and your family and the most vulnerable among us safe from COVID-19,” Whitmer said at a press conference on Thursday.

Near record high temperatures possible this weekend

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Sunrise captured Sept. 15, 2021 in Huron Township. (File photo by Scott Bolthouse — The Huron Hub)

Posted by The Huron Hub—Wednesday, May 19, 2021

It’s going to get hot around here.

Forecasters are calling for near record high temperatures this weekend.

Warm air continues to build mid-week as highs reach the lower 80s in most locations on Wednesday.

After highs in the mid 80s Thursday, temps push into the upper 80s by Friday.

Record highs are in the lower 90s and normal highs are in the lower 70s for mid May.

Near record warmth continues through the weekend while humidity and heat index remain modest through the period.

Tiffany’s on the River announces closure due to pandemic

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By Scott Bolthouse | THE HURON HUB
Posted Monday, May 17, 2021

Huron Township has lost another restaurant.

The second restaurant in a week has announced on social media that they are closing for good.

Tiffany’s on the River, 37005 Huron River Drive, announced late last week that they are closing for good due to the pandemic.

May 16 was their last day in business.

Here are their posts on social media explaining their closure:

This is the second business that Huron Township has lost within the last week.

On May 10, The Waltz Inn, a longtime restaurant in the village of Waltz, also announced they would no longer be open for business.

Space-themed playground worth $1.3 million to be built at Lower Huron Metropark

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A rendering of the newly announced playground. Image courtesy Huron-Clinton Metroparks.

By Scott Bolthouse | THE HURON HUB
Posted Monday, May 17, 2021

The Huron-Clinton Metroparks is building a new space-themed playground at Lower Huron Metropark that is worth $1.3 million. 

Construction is expected to begin this summer and wrap up with a grand opening by the end of the year.

“The Metroparks always strive to meet community needs and provide area residents and visitors with first-rate outdoor recreation spaces and activities,” said Metroparks Director Amy McMillan. “We couldn’t be more appreciative of the feedback and ideas received, and are excited to launch this unique play experience to help spark imaginations and serve as a destination playground.”

McMillan said the design is a combination of creativity, accessibility, and offering something that did not already exist in the general vicinity. Planning for the new play space began this past November.

Online surveys and stakeholder conversations were held with numerous individuals and organizations like the Detroit Association of Black Organizations (DABO) and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. From there, the Woods Creek area within the park was selected due to its visibility from the main park road, abundant parking and general openness.

The playground is one of many efforts that the Metroparks are making to improve recreational opportunities across the system’s 13 unique parks.

Key features include a geometric playscape designed to reflect the solar system and a new Hedra tower slide, believed to be the first of its kind in Michigan. Playground consultant, Penchura, along with Michigan Recreational Construction, Inc., will lead the construction, installation and development to make the vision come to life. 

The new playground is set to break ground in the summer and be completed by the end of 2021. To learn more, view site renderings and stay up to date with project developments, visit www.metroparks.com

 

Whitmer lifts Michigan’s face mask mandate for fully vaccinated residents

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Posted by The Huron Hub | Friday, May 14, 2021

Governor Whitmer today announced the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is updating the “Gatherings and Mask Order” to align with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest guidance on face coverings.

The new order will go into effect on Saturday, May 15.

“For more than a year, we’ve been following the best data and science to slow the spread of COVID-19 and save lives,” said Whitmer. “The vast majority of us have trusted the scientists and experts to keep us safe during the pandemic, and it has worked. With millions of Michiganders fully vaccinated, we can now safely and confidently take the next step to get back to normal. The message is clear: vaccines work to protect you and your loved ones. If you have not yet received your vaccine, now is the time to sign up. This pandemic has been one of the toughest challenges of our lifetimes, but we came together as a state to persevere. We have all been working incredibly hard toward getting back to some sense of normalcy, and today’s news makes all of that work worthwhile.”

On Thursday, the CDC released updated guidance recommending “fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” 

“It’s critical that eligible Michigan residents who have not yet been vaccinated schedule their appointments as soon as they can,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and MDHHS chief deputy director for health. “Getting shots in arms is the best way to end the pandemic. If you have not yet been vaccinated, it is important to continue to mask up to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.”

Under the updated MDHHS Gatherings and Mask Order, Michiganders who are outdoors will no longer need to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status. While indoors, fully vaccinated Michiganders will no longer need to wear a mask, but residents who are not vaccinated, or have not completed their vaccinations, must continue to wear a mask or face covering to protect themselves and others. After July 1, the broad indoor mask mandate will expire.

“The safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine and all the hard work that Michiganders have done allows us to take a big step in returning to normal,” said MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel. “This updated order keeps Michigan in alignment with CDC guidance that is based on the knowledge of health experts. I urge our residents to continue to be respectful of each other as we move forward.”

To date, Michigan has administered 7,875,785 vaccines. According to CDC data, 55.6% of Michiganders ages 16 and older have received at least one dose, with more than 43% percent of Michiganders ages 16 and older being fully vaccinated. The state has also administered the vaccine to 927 Michiganders between the ages of 12 to 15 years old.

CDC says fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors, with few exceptions

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(Photo/Pexels)

The Huron Hub | Thursday, May 13, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a move to send the country back toward pre-pandemic life, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday eased indoor mask-wearing guidance for fully vaccinated people, allowing them to safely stop wearing masks inside in most places.

The new guidance still calls for wearing masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters but will help clear the way for reopening workplaces, schools, and other venues — even removing the need for masks or social distancing for those who are fully vaccinated.

“We have all longed for this moment — when we can get back to some sense of normalcy,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC.

The CDC will also no longer recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks outdoors in crowds. The announcement comes as the CDC and the Biden administration have faced pressure to ease restrictions on fully vaccinated people — people who are two weeks past their last required COVID-19 vaccine dose — in part to highlight the benefits of getting the shot.

Walensky announced the new guidance on Thursday afternoon at a White House briefing, saying the long-awaited change is thanks to millions of people getting vaccinated — and based on the latest science about how well those shots are working.

“Anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities – large or small — without wearing a mask or physically distancing,” Walensky said. “If you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic.”

The easing guidance is likely to open the door to confusion, since there is no surefire way for businesses or others to distinguish between those fully vaccinated and those who are not.

President Joe Biden was set to highlight the new guidance Thursday afternoon in a speech from the White House.

The new guidance comes as the aggressive U.S. vaccination campaign begins to pay off. U.S. virus cases are at their lowest rate since September, deaths are at their lowest point since last April and the test positivity rate is at the lowest point since the pandemic began.

To date about 154 million Americans, more than 46% of the population, have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines and more than 117 million are fully vaccinated. The rate of new vaccinations has slowed in recent weeks, but with the authorization Wednesday of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 12 to 15, a new burst of doses is expected in the coming days.

Just two weeks ago, the CDC recommended that fully vaccinated people continue to wear masks indoors in all settings and outdoors in large crowds.

During a virtual meeting Tuesday on vaccinations with a bipartisan group of governors, Biden appeared to acknowledge that his administration had to do more to model the benefits of vaccination.

“I would like to say that we have fully vaccinated people; we should start acting like it,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, told Biden. “And that’s a big motivation get the unvaccinated to want to to get vaccinated.”

“Good point,” Biden responded. He added, “We’re going to be moving on that in the next little bit.”

Walensky said the evidence from the U.S. and Israel shows the vaccines are as strongly protective in real-world use as they were in earlier studies, and that so far they continue to work even though some worrying mutated versions of the virus are spreading.

The more people continue to get vaccinated, the faster infections will drop — and the harder it will be for the virus to mutate enough to escape vaccines, she stressed, urging everyone 12 and older who’s not yet vaccinated to sign up.

And while some people still get COVID-19 despite vaccination, Walensky said that’s rare and cited evidence that those infections tend to be milder, shorter and harder to spread to others. If someone who’s vaccinated does develop COVID-19 symptoms, they should immediately put their mask back on and get tested, she said.

There are some caveats. Walensky encouraged people who have weak immune systems, such as from organ transplants or cancer treatment, to talk with their doctors before shedding their masks. That’s because of continued uncertainty about whether the vaccines can rev up a weakened immune system as well as they do normal, healthy ones.

Article courtesy of The Associated Press.
View source article here

 

Michigan lifts mask mandate for outdoor gatherings of under 100 people

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Posted by The Huron Hub – May 5, 2021

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) updated its COVID-19 Gatherings and Face Masks epidemic order to encourage safer outdoor activities as spring and summer bring warmer weather and new opportunities to go outdoors.

Under the new order, which goes into effect Thursday, May 6, and continues through Monday, May 31, masks are generally not required outdoors unless a gathering has 100 or more people.

In addition, anyone who is fully vaccinated and not experiencing symptoms is not required to wear a mask at residential gatherings, including indoors.

New guidance for organized sports no longer requires routine COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated participants if they are asymptomatic.

Masks continue to be required for contact sports but are no longer required outdoors during active practice and competition for non-contact sports. For example, softball and baseball players will be required to wear a mask in the dugout but not when at bat or playing first base.

MDHHS continues to urge Michiganders to follow CDC guidance, even where not specifically required by an epidemic order. For people who aren’t yet fully vaccinated, that means masking up whenever around other people not from your household.  

“The commitment by Michiganders to receive the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is allowing us to move toward a return to normal,” said MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel. “The vaccines work. That means once Michiganders are fully vaccinated, they do not have to abide by as many health guidelines because of the protection the vaccine provides from the spread of the virus. Last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer launched the MI Vacc to Normal plan to set vaccine milestones to enable a return toward normalcy. This week we are taking further steps in that direction.”  

The Gatherings and Mask Order preserves strong public health measures to control the spread of COVID-19.  

“Getting your vaccine is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical executive and chief deputy for health at MDHHS. “Vaccines give you the freedom and peace of mind to be able to do more things, but we still have work to do to reach our goal of vaccinating at least 70% of residents ages 16 and up. Get one of the three safe and effective vaccines as soon as you are able, and please remember you need to get your second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to get the full immunity that these vaccines offer.”  

To date, 39.3% of Michigan residents 16 and older had been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and 50.6% had received at least a first dose.  

Updates to the Gatherings and Masks Order encourage outdoor events with larger capacities permitted for entertainment and recreational facilities and for sports stadiums and arenas that hold events outdoors. This includes: 

  • Large outdoor events, including festivals, fairs, and golf tournamentswill be able to exceed the current 1,000-person limit so long as they create and post a safety plan consistent with the MDHHS Large Outdoor Event Guidance, and no more than 20 persons per 1,000 square feet are gathered in any space available to patrons.
  • Outdoor stadiums and arenas:
    • Stadiums complying with enhanced protocols will continue to be allowed to operate at 20% of their fixed seating capacity. For example, a stadium with a maximum capacity complying with enhanced protocols would be permitted to host 8,000 patrons.
    • Otherwise, for stadiums or arenas with a fixed seating capacity of 5,000 or greater without enhanced protocols 1,000 patrons may be gathered (previously 750).
    • For stadiums or arenas with a fixed seating capacity of 10,000 or greater without enhanced protocols 1,500 patrons may be gathered.
  • Residential outdoor gatheringsare allowed up to 50 people. Or, where density does not exceed 20 persons per 1,000 square feet of usable outdoor space, up to 300 people may be gathered.