The hallways are deadly quiet. They can hear sounds from other rooms but don’t know who lives there, and can’t visit. Life in CMU’s COVID Dorm is an eerie, monotonous journey for two, now-separated roommates.
Robin Erb
Robin Erb covers a range of health issues in Michigan, including the industry of aging and the issues facing older residents in Michigan, a state that is aging faster than most others. She joined Bridge in 2019 and has led investigations that tracked millions of dollars in opioid settlement money and explored severe worker shortages in health care that threaten lives and the state's economy. She chronicled the shock and grief of Michigan families in COVID’s wake, as well as state policy decisions and the triumphs of medical breakthroughs. Robin previously spent six years covering health at the Detroit Free Press, documenting the battle over, and the eventual passage of, the Affordable Care Act and Michigan's Medicaid expansion. She studied communications and political science at Miami University and has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Lourdes University (Toledo, Ohio). She and her husband raised two wonderful children — but have failed miserably at training their Beagle-Bassets — in southeast Michigan. Reach her at rerb@bridgemi.com.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan to identify K-12 schools with coronavirus outbreaks Sept. 14
The state’s announcement follows weeks of pressure as many parents must decide whether to send their children to school or have them learn from home. State officials did not include colleges in its decision.
Posted inTalent & Education
Teachers: Michigan must improve transparency on COVID outbreaks at schools
State law gives schools wide discretion on whether to inform the public if there’s an outbreak. That must change, says a union representing 120,000 teachers and support staff.
Posted inTalent & Education
COVID-19 at your Michigan school? Odds are, nobody is required to tell you.
The governor’s office and state health officials have yet to identify schools with active coronavirus outbreaks. And under current state policy, there is no requirement of a public announcement.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Swabs, sewage and campus bubbles: Can COVID testing keep colleges open?
With guesswork built into coronavirus testing at Michigan colleges and universities, campus leaders hope to keep students and staff safe. Nobody, it seems, knows if their plans are likely to work.
Posted inTalent & Education
Central Michigan started class Monday. By Friday: 38 coronavirus cases
Michigan has already reported 14 school-related COVID-19 outbreaks. CMU’s appears to be another.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan to identify schools with COVID outbreaks. In a couple of weeks.
There are 14 coronavirus outbreaks reported at Michigan colleges and K-12 schools. The state’s top doc says Michigan’s data system doesn’t collect school names now, and will have to be updated. Until then, nothing.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan has 14 school-related coronavirus outbreaks. State won’t say where.
The state health department declined to say which K-12 schools or colleges had confirmed outbreaks, noting that it has not done so for many businesses. One education leader said parents will likely want to know.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
IQOS (heated tobacco) replaces vaping as the next cigarette alternative
A federal agency is allowing Philip Morris to market its product as producing fewer harmful chemicals than smoked tobacco, even as it delivers about as much nicotine.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Staff at Michigan nursing homes ravaged by COVID-19 set to strike
Saying they are underpaid and unprotected, union members of SEIU Healthcare Michigan say they’re ready to walk. State nursing home advocate says pay has increased; COVID made staffing and PPE a struggle.