Does anyone have concerns about Michigan’s COVID response? Including today, its been really concerning, and is really jeopardizing the students health.
"WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI — A two-week stay-in-place order is now in effect for all University of Michigan undergraduate students due to an increase in COVID-19 cases…
There have been more than 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases among UM students on the Ann Arbor campus since the start of the fall semester, county health officials said. The majority of cases are among students in residence halls and students living in congregate settings, such as fraternities, sororities and cooperative housing, health officials said."
https://www.mlive.com/coronavirus/2020/10/2-week-stay-in-place-order-issued-by-health-department-for-university-of-michigan-students.html
Yes, I’m disappointed, but MSU and GVS have or had issues too.
Thankfully, my D21 is healthy (knock on wood), but has been all remote learning and holed up in her off-campus apartment. From what I’ve heard it’s the freshman, especially in Markley, creating most of the problems.
It’s not the only locale in the country having problems.
Speaking as an Ann Arbor local, things are not going well. This past weekend, I saw a crowd of what looked like students milling around the parking lot of an off campus urgent care clinic. I then looked at the umich COVID web site and I saw that most student testing was conducted off campus, which is amazing, considering that there is a hospital right on campus. My daughters are at other schools that are coping well with full on-campus testing plans. I strongly disagree that it’s the fault of a few “freshman” in a single dorm - 60% of our county cases are students. This is squarely on the university.
The article specifically calls out Markley, but also states 1,000 cases are due to UM students.
Also Washtenaw County, if you count the 631 probable cases, would have roughly 5,000 cases. So, 1,000 cases among UM students is not 60% of the total cases of 5,000 in the County. Unless I’m missing something.
Here’s the breakdown in residence halls:
Markley 92 cases
South Quad 85 cases
West Quad 74 cases
MoJo 23 cases
Alice Lloyd 23 cases
That’s 297 cases from these 5 freshman dorms.
You did a lot of research, but you missed this from the same article you quoted:
“Washtenaw County Health Department data indicates that UM-related cases now account for 61% of the county’s COVID-19 cases”
Michigan brought back students, which I applaud. I have kids in other schools and they are also benefiting from being back on their respective campuses, which is wonderful. Check.
What Michigan did not do is have a proper and well executed test and response plan. The school invites students back, so it’s on the school to prepare. That is NOT on the students. If there are student violations, and there always will be some, the school can threaten disciplinary action. That fixes that problem. The contrast with my kids schools is stark. I am very surprised, given that they should have the brain power, the infrastructure (labs and on campus medical school and hospital) and the money from out of state tuition dollars and a huge endowment. I had assumed that they had a great on campus testing plan, until I saw the urgent care parking lot crowd… Big negative-check.
On that basis, your comparison with Grand Valley State (GVS?) is meaningless. Michigan State went fully remote and minimal dorm residency, to the consternation of parents, but it was probably the right decision. The early cases were off campus students who returned but things have since calmed down.
I gather you don’t live here. Locals are worried about access to medical care and we have to work, live and shop here. Let’s hope that the county’s actions will get things back under control. I have no faith that the university is acting in in the best interests of anyone other than, maybe, their administration and Jim Harbaugh.
We’ll all get through this, but the process of how we do so is important.
I have a Freshman and a Junior and from what I have seen the University has been doing a great job, including testing and contact tracing in the dorms to catch positive cases before spreading! We even visited last weekend prior to the “Stay Orders”.
I think the Washtenaw County Health Department has made a mistake though with the “Stay orders” because the opposite has happened. The majority of students live off of campus, many have cars and half of the students live in Michigan! So many upperclassmen especially the seniors have left town now to go to where they can be amongst their friends and have freedom of being with one another vs. the “only 2 people outside order”! So the County has effectively helped empty the campus for these next two weeks and then those students will return from who knows where?!! There have been many who have believed that the university should have been testing more and many who have been saying this group is at low risk from harm so there is a lot of that arguing going on among people. I believe that the University would not have put the “stay orders” in place had the County not “gone there”, because they knew what would happen and is why they were trying to open spaces up especially for the freshmen who are mainly the only ones who live “on campus” in small dorm rooms. Older adults may be dismayed by the upperclassmen decision to leave town, but they are adults too which I think many forget! It would have been much better to keep them on and around the campus but clearly they (Washtenaw County) were not thinking about what effect these orders would have on the Undergraduate Students (the Stay Orders only applied to Undergrads at UM, not graduate students and not even their own County College Students!)
Also, restaurants and coffee shops are not kicking students out, they want and need the business and even the DPSS who patrol the study spaces have said that they don’t agree with the orders when they asked a student to leave a study space that, due to the orders, they are no longer able to utilize.
So, from my direct perspective, I believe the University has done a great job in a very contentious and difficult environment where no matter what they do, someone will be unhappy with them!
The students are making the most of it, my freshman too has made a great group of friends, loves her classes and wouldn’t want to be anyplace else, despite the restrictions the County has placed on them!
Go Blue!!
The university did not do a great job. The steps they are now taking were done by other schools months ago. We live in difficult times, but the full impact of this might have been avoided if they were better prepared from the beginning.
They’ve done a terrible job. They are alienating their freshmen students, and potential students.
I read that, but you need to read the quote I pulled. They obviously conflict. As of the writing of this article, 1,000 UM related cases of the 4,000+ cases in Washtenaw. Period. Full stop.
No I don’t live in A2. Nice place, but I wouldn’t want live there. I live in the SF Bay Area.
My D18 goes to school there. She’s sheltered-in-place in her off campus apartment the entire semester. All distance learning the entire semester. She can get a Covid test anytime. We get UM Covid updates at least 1x week, as parents. Is UM perfect, nope.
But, to the people of Washtenaw…wear mask, social distance, wash your hands, sanitize everything, etc. You can’t account for people who don’t want to follow the friggin’ guidelines. It’s a college town. If you or anyone else is worried, then move.
My CA community near a couple universities is following the rules and I go about my daily business including spending 2 hours in the gym 5-6 days/week. Thankfully I’m fine. My point? It’s not just the students and UM’s responsibility, but it’s everyone in your county.
And the complaints have been heard. Good job UM:
Here’s a student’s thought from the article:
I’m sorry, but if you think Michigan has done a great job, you are not familiar with what “doing a great job” entails. They are doing a terrible job. And it is doubly terrible considering that the university president is an MD/PhD, they have a major medical center on campus, and they have a world-renowned school of public health.
Mitigation and containment measures are 100% known. Any graduate student in public health could have laid out a plan. They are just not taking the steps and showing the leadership. So many colleges implemented the right program, which relies on testing, tracing, and isolation. All students, faculty, staff, and contractors must be tested with a molecular test at least twice/week. Fail to complete your testing? Your M-Card and university email are disabled.
Michigan state and Michigan both have MD as presidents but pressure and size of Michigan might have played a role in the direction they took. If I remember correctly Michigan State decided to shutdown dorms (but then allowed 2000 students on campus) on the first day of mov-in. I can tell you it did not go well with Michiganders because of Michigan’s choices. It was an attack on the school by parents who thought if Michigan can do it then MSU had no excuse. It’s a tough call! As for MSU I think they will double students on campus for spring and lab classes will be optional in-class. We will have to see how this works. Just a note cases at MSU are way down compared to end of August/early Sept.
Since my last post, their plans for winter semester to be nearly all virtual and reduce the on campus population adversely affects the Freshman as they are the ones living on campus. Freshman need to vacate their dorms unless given approval to stay (in a single) for next semester. This has sent many scrambling for off campus housing and those who can’t find it and don’t have a “reason” to be on campus will be studying from home.
While my earlier post I thought Michigan was doing a great job, I no longer agree and what they are doing to the current freshman is wrong . They are reducing the density of people on campus by way of sending the FRESHMAN packing for second semester. But I would bet many have found off campus housing, the hotels don’t seem to mind having students occupy their properties, yet the school doesn’t want them on campus. Crazy!
So to any potential freshman for next year don’t live in a dorm, find an off campus apartment with others if this virus is still with us.
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Well most apartment off campus seemed to be sold out. At least ones that were reasonable.
But you can rent from someone in Kerry Town for a reasonable rate. My strong hint is to check out the Co-op housing like now. There are still openings. Can be one of the best deals on campus and you can get winter through spring rates that end when your classes does. My son’s on North campus and his has a chef… They are all reasonably priced and again you won’t get stuck with a year lease. Some are walking distance to the diag but like act now since they will be taken…
Just started following this thread. I find it stunning that President Schlissel, an Immunologist, did not adequately prepare the university for this eventuality. The other thing I can’t understand is charging out of starters $26,000/semester for classes taught on Zoom. I feel badly for the students and parents, and feel like we dodged a bullet by sending our daughter elsewhere where she is on campus and will be for winter semester. The university doesn’t seem to care about the high costs of attendance, and now this. Sorry for everyone going through this. (Disclaimer: I’m an alum, LSA '89)
Don’t feel sorry for us. D18 is still getting a great education with great professors, great grades, great roommates, from a great institution, which moved up AGAIN in the USNWR rankings. And D18 is healthy, knock on wood. All good here!
On another note, UMich just signed their 2nd 5-star basketball recruit in the past 10 days for the Class of 2025 and has the #1 b-ball recruiting class in the country for next year.
https://247sports.com/Season/2021-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings/
Just a snapshot in time. College is 4 years +/-. Go Blue!
IMO, there’s plenty of blame to be shared all around. Wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, etc. 
@sushiritto , I did see that today on MGOBlog! Go Blue! We’re a basketball school now, apparently. SMH.
Anyway, glad your daughter is still in love with my alma mater!
So as you know my son’s there living the dream as a senior. They have done a great job of communication to us parents but I am dismayed at the lack of testing until now for kids that were off campus. He just needed to hibernate 14 days prior to coming but no testing was required. Now you can go and get it like the same day. I also was expecting them to come up with their own test, since it’s Michigan. This was my illusion. I think they are in the much better place today but it seemed like this is where they should of been at the start of the fall. Would it of made a difference? Don’t know but it sure would of given better optics at least.
Saying this, sure my son is hammering away and learning and would not have it any other way. He also stayed on campus last winter when everyone went home. He was actually safer there then at home.
Yep, super excited about the new recruit if Howard can get them all to play together. If Everyone stays covid free it could be an exciting season.
Gotta root for something since football is down the drain.
All I know is that a pretty vicious letter, which can be seen here:
https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/document/d/10Rx9AGMR4JVXJRwe4yJmbbVKq7zb6bY1o4OVRJCLOIc/mobilebasic
is going to Schlissel and the Regents, and its currently signed by more than 900 families of current and past students.