LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Starting Monday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) will begin reporting outbreak information by school building.
Data on COVID-19 outbreaks is being collected from the 45 local health departments across the state weekly. A COVID-19 outbreak is defined as two or more cases with a link by place and time indicating a shared exposure outside of a household.
“Parents and students should know that if their school is listed, their local health department and school are already investigating. Based on that investigation, people are contacted individually if they were possibly exposed to COVID-19 at school,” chief medical executive and chief deputy for health Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said in a statement. “Michigan schools are working hard to maintain a safe environment while also providing quality education.”
The information being posted on the website today and each Monday at 3 p.m. will include K-12, college and university school name, address, number of cases and if the cases involved staff, students or both.
Students or staff exposed to COVID-19 outside the school building and are not thought to have spread the virus in the school due to quarantine or self-isolation are not included in the data.
Officials add that many factors, including the lack of ability to conduct effective contact tracing in certain settings, may result in underreporting of outbreaks. This information does not provide a complete picture of school outbreaks in Michigan and the absence of identified outbreaks in a school does not mean it is not experiencing an outbreak.
Officials are also reminding citizens and students that wearing a mask that covers the mouth and nose, social distancing (maintaining a distance of six feet apart), frequent handwashing (using soap for 20 seconds or hand sanitizer) and following capacity restrictions of social gatherings are some of the most effective ways to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Michiganders who are sick or have symptoms can get tested at numerous testing sites across the state.
The latest COVID-19 information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
