April 9, 2021 By Jon King / jking@whmi.com
Following Gov. Whitmerâs press conference Friday in which she urged a two-week suspension of in-person high school classes, all youth sports and indoor restaurant dining, at least one local school district is taking action.
In his weekly video update (posted below), Pinckney Superintendent Rick Todd said they would pause both in-person instruction and sports at the high school next week, with most students going to online learning.
Todd pointed to the 19 confirmed COVID cases since Monday in the district, which he said was as many as they normally see over the course of a month. Todd said most of the cases occurred over spring break, and âwe re definitely feeling the impact of that and I think we re going to continue to feel the impact of that.
April 9, 2021 By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com
Rising COVID-19 case levels in the local community and throughout the state have promoted Cleary University to initiate a soft close of its campus in Genoa Township.
According to most recent testing, there are 143 people in quarantine and 18 positive cases in the Cleary community. Officials say they continue to work with the Livingston County Health Department to report cases for contact tracing purposes. Officials say they are deeply committed to maintaining the safety of the campus and reducing the spread of COVID-19, thus the soft close is effective immediately and will last through April 17th.
LCHD officials say newly eligible individuals will likely have to wait several weeks or more (depending on supplies) before an appointment is available. Although eligibility has expanded, Livingston County will continue to prioritize residents based on highest risk, including older residents, those with underlying medical conditions, and front-line/essential workers, LCHD officials said in a release.
People can request a vaccine appointment through the health department by filing out an online form, at survey.alchemer.com/s3/6130554/COVID-19-Vaccination-Interest-Form
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reports about 31% of Livingston County residents have received doses of vaccine, more than 49,000 residents.
April 6, 2021
The Livingston County Health Department has announced expanded eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination.
Vaccination appointments are now being offered to individuals ages 16 and over for the Pfizer vaccine and those 18 and over for the Janssen and Moderna vaccines. Individuals under the age of 18 must have a parent or guardian present at their appointment. Also being offered appointments are those diagnosed with a pre-existing condition that increases the risk of severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19 or disabled as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Although eligibility has expanded, local health officials say Livingston County will continue to prioritize residents based on the highest risk, including older residents, those with underlying medical conditions, and frontline/essential workers. It was also noted that there is an ongoing increase in COVID-19 cases and the test positivity rate in Livingston County, with residen
As the state has seen a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases, schools have been seeing similar trends.
Some schools in Livingston County have seen surges in cases, but school leaders believe the likelihood of in-school transmission is still low. We haven t seen transmission in schools, Pinckney Superintendent Rick Todd said. It could happen, but we re not seeing that as a root cause. What we re seeing are interactions without protocols where you re seeing that mass spread.
The Detroit Free Press reported on March 17 that the largest portion of new COVID-19 cases in Michigan was school-age children. Natasha Radke, public information officer for the Livingston County Health Department, confirmed the county has seen an uptick in cases among children. She said there have been club- and sports-related cases, including the B.1.1.7 variant, which is more contagious and could be causing the increase in school outbreaks.