Let the winter semester begin for real: Wayne State University shifts Jan. 31 from online classes to on-campus instruction.
(Slide: The South End)
Covid "cases and positivity rates [among students] have decreased to the point where we can safely resume in-person classes and reinstate many of the on-campus activities," president M. Roy Wilson says Friday in a "Dear campus community" message.
We will also reopen campus dining, retail and libraries; reinstate many in-person academic and social activities; open theatrical and athletic events to spectators; and welcome guests for campus tours.
Wilson, who had announced the stay-home semester start on Dec. 23, reminds students and staff about mandatory masking in campus buildings and another health precaution:
All students, faculty and staff are required to submit proof of their Covid-19 vaccines and boosters, along with the flu vaccine. If you have not received your vaccines or boosters, they are available at the Campus Health Center.
Flint classes stay virtual 'until further notice'
In Flint, by contrast, public schools will continue remote learning indefinitely "for the greater health of our community."
"While we had hoped to return for in-person learning on Monday, Jan. 24, ... after further discussion with local health officials and based on the continued rise of Covid-19 cases across Genesee County and the state of Michigan, we have decided to continue with distance learning until further notice," Superintendent Kevelin Jones of Flint Community Schools says in a letter to families and staffers.
The Flint area's number of new cases and testing positivity rate recently "indicate that Genesee County is at high transmission risk," Jones adds. "The safety and well-being of our community is a priority."
State distributes 202,000 more test kits
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is mounting a Covid test kits distribution blitz "to ensure availability of testing for the state's most vulnerable residents during the unprecedented Omicron surge," the governor's office announces.
The agency "will deliver hundreds of thousands of tests to Michiganders in schools, nursing homes, correctional facilities and to our first responders and local health departments," according to a media release that says 202,462 kits will be delivered. The largest share -- 117,740 -- goes to public school districts.
Earlier this month, the health agency sent more than 5,000 tests to libraries for public giveaways, including in Detroit and Taylor.
Related:
