By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
Recent pandemic-related orders and recommendations from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration have area officials scratching their heads. Should area high schools be offering in-person instruction? Should high school sports continue? Should public bodies meet in person or virtually?
The latest actions came after a year where state residents have had to deal with lockdowns and restrictions on where they can go and how they can do business. While some restrictions have been lifted, there is still a mandatory mask order in place and many businesses are struggling to stay open.
Whitmer made a series of recommendations last Friday related to the COVID-19 pandemic after a recent rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. She recommended rather than ordered people refrain from eating in restaurants for the next two weeks and also asked for a pause in in-person instruction for high school students and for high school sports.
Another change came March 31 as the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services modified its March 19 order on the size of indoor gatherings. The March 19 order stated that indoor gatherings were limited to 25 people no matter the size of the meeting room and also put gathering size restrictions on restaurants and other businesses.
On March 31, the MDHHS amended the earlier order to make governmental meetings no longer subject to the 25 person gathering size limitation. The order had already listed 14 categories where the gathering limit didn’t apply and added a 15th area listing “gatherings of public bodies and attendees of meetings help by public bodies in compliance with the Open Meetings Act.”
The March 31 order amendment came about primarily because the state legislature had not passed legislation allowing public bodies to meet virtually. The Open Meetings Act amendment allowing for virtual, remote meetings was signed into law in late December and expired March 31.
Berrien County was among several counties around the state that took matters into their own hands last month. County Commissioners declared a state of emergency for the county through June 30 to allow public bodies to hold virtual meetings.
“The inability of government to function as it is envisioned under the law would constitute a state of emergency in my opinion such that if legislators and the governor can’t get together, we will declare state of emergency for Berrien County,” County Board Chair Mac Elliott said. “Everything would be covered by it so they can continue virtually.”
Commissioners briefly discussed the conundrum created by the March 31 MDHHS order amendment at their April 1 board meeting but did not come to a conclusion. They are continuing the state of emergency and holding regular meetings virtually with most commissioners appearing remotely and the public able to watch on the county’s YouTube channel.
The uncertainty caused by the tension between the county’s declaration of a state of emergency and the amendment to the MDHHS order has local public bodies scrambling to decide how they will hold public meetings. While the 25 person limit no longer applies according to the MDHHS order, there still needs to be social distancing and masks worn.
While some public bodies have gone back to holding in-person public meetings-some never went virtual-others are happy to keep holding virtual meetings. Two examples are the village of Three Oaks and the city of Buchanan. Officials in both entities have decided to stay virtual or at least offer that option for members of the public.
Berrien County Administrator Brian Dissette reported in March that local officials with whom he’d been in contact wanted to see virtual meetings continue and urged the county declare a state of emergency. He noted that local officials told him they’ve actually been thriving and getting higher than normal public participation.
As for high school attendance and athletics, most school districts in Berrien County have decided to stay with in-person instruction and to monitor high school sporting events. Local superintendents moved quickly to state their position late last week after Whitmer’s April 9 recommendations.
Their decision came after consultation with Berrien County Health Department Health Officer Nicki Britten and Medical Director Dr. Rick Johansen in response to Whitmer’s statements. Britten and Johansen said they believe in-person instruction can continue although they acknowledged that infection rates are going up in the state.
“Based on local data, the Berrien County Health Department is recommending that high schools in Berrien County can maintain in-person instruction and youth sports can continue at the present time,” they wrote.
They pointed out that the Berrien County rates are one quarter the rates in more harder hit parts of the state. The evidence in Berrien County does not show a need for the same level of new action at this time.
They noted that while there has been a rise in COVID-19 cases since the beginning of March moving from an average of 23 cases per day on March 5 to an average of 50 cases per day on March 29, it’s not as high as other parts of the state. In addition, cases have remained flat since March 29 with 10 straight days of no appreciable increases, they said.
They said data trends are monitored daily and reviewed once or twice a week with school leaders. They added that the monitoring will increase this week with the commencement of mandatory athlete testing which will allow them to better monitor the role of students in community transmission levels.
“As always, we will balance our decisions with what our local data indicates and the known benefits of in-person instruction,” they said.
Britten and Johansen said their recommendations are predicated on the continued use of preventative measures such as face masks, social distancing, strong hygiene practices and regular monitoring. They noted that schools are “highly regulated environments” and protect students better than in more informal settings associated with remote learning.
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