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West Michigan schools have 'no plans' to return to remote learning

An advocacy group, meanwhile, called on MDHHS to issue a statewide school mask mandate amid a surge in cases.

MICHIGAN, USA — As several Metro Detroit school districts reverted, at least partially, to remote learning amid the state’s dramatic spike in coronavirus activity, a number of major West Michigan districts told 13 On Your Side they had no plans to do so.

The districts, including Grand Rapids, said the move would come as a last resort.

Meanwhile, a statewide coalition comprising thousands of parents—MiPASS—upped the ante Tuesday with regard to demands for a statewide mask mandate in K-12 settings, which have garnered increasing attention as, according to multiple Michigan-based health systems, drivers of the state’s so-called fourth wave.

The group reiterated its call to issue a mandate masks be worn in schools Tuesday after petitioning the state to do as much in September.

“This is not just about public health,” Alex Johnson related via Zoom Tuesday. “This is about so much more and that’s unfortunate. We’ve become so distracted. We’ve really lost sight of the importance… of taking those steps… so that we can protect each other.”

The Kent County father of two belongs to a West Michigan-based organization—Smart Science Alliance-- pushing for the same, data-based approach in the classroom.

MDHHS responded to a 13 ON YOUR SIDE Tuesday with a written statement:  

The state is committed to ensuring Michigan students and educators are as safe as possible in the classroom. We have issued school guidance that strongly recommends a universal mask mandate in schools along with other CDC-developed prevention strategies that schools and local health departments can use together to reduce the spread of COVID-19, maintain in-person learning and protect people who are not yet fully vaccinated. MDHHS has also provided guidance to help K-12 schools maintain in-person learning by outlining mitigation strategies when students are exposed to another student infected with COVID-19. We urge all eligible Michiganders to get the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they are able as the vaccine is our best defense against the virus.”

State health officials appeared to shy away from touching directly on demands for a statewide mandate, instead, again appearing to defer to individual districts.  

Efforts to vaccinate the state’s newly eligible children, meanwhile, proceeded Tuesday.

Cherry Health spoke with 13 ON YOUR SIDE via Zoom a day into its vaccine clinic partnership with Grand Rapids Public Schools:

“There will be a little bit of a delay before we get to an acceptable threshold for pediatrics. Parents are always a little bit more cautious,” Dr. Jenny Bush, Cherry Health’s director of pediatrics and COVID response coordinator explained.

“Studies are showing us kids are actually having less side effects… hopefully, as people start to see that, they’ll become more comfortable.”

Bush said approximately ten percent of the district’s eligible population had registered to receive a vaccine at the time of publication.

According to data obtained from MDHHS’ vaccination dashboard, around 5% of the state’s more than 800,000 eligible pediatric patients had received at least one dose as of its last update.

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