Saying an upswing in COVID cases is “quickly becoming a crisis,” Ingham County health officer orders lockdown on 30 frats, sororities and other big homes. The mandatory order comes after the health department recommended voluntary quarantines for some 38K students.
Robin Erb
Robin Erb covers health care and aging for Bridge Michigan, focusing on a state that is aging faster than most. She has led investigations tracking opioid settlement money and health care worker shortages, and previously spent six years at the Detroit Free Press covering the Affordable Care Act and Michigan's Medicaid expansion. She holds a master's degree from Lourdes University in Toledo.
Robin and her husband raised two children in southeast Michigan — and have failed miserably at training their Beagle-Bassets.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Outdoor visits now ‘expected’ at Michigan nursing homes, state says
Michigan health officials announced that nursing homes may find ways to allow loved ones to meet with residents under certain conditions. The state also may soon approve a provision that allows family members to volunteer in homes.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Xavier DeGroat will not be stopped. Michigan autism activist goes to D.C.
DeGroat’s bulldog persistence has yielded bipartisan legislation in Lansing and a network of powerful backers.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan colleges pass 1,000 COVID cases. Apparently, students like to party.
Strict health protocols on campuses aren’t stopping the spread of coronavirus. With cases rising fast, some experts fear more a wave of deaths, but others say aggressive testing and quarantining could prevent the worst from happening.
Posted inTalent & Education
Whitmer’s ‘real-time’ school coronavirus outbreak data could be a week old
Michigan will begin listing schools with outbreaks Monday, but disclosure is bogged down by testing delays and reporting lag times. Some fear the information will be so dated, it could be of little use to parents.
Posted inTalent & Education
Quesadillas, Netflix and silence in Central Michigan’s ‘COVID dorm’
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.
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.