According to Eisenberg, 
“high-risk individuals should 
be more careful with social 
distancing. 
It 
is 
critical 
that they not be around big 
crowds.” 
For 
lower-risk 
people, 
Eisenberg 
said, 
they 
“probably won’t have a major 
illness but they can contribute 
to the transmission. Even 

though students aren’t high-
risk they would be effective 
in its transmission. So for 
example, if you’re traveling a 
lot you might not want to visit 
your 85-year-old grandma.”
How can we learn from 
other affected countries?
Eisenberg 
said 
South 
Korea, where strict isolation 
and 
social 
distancing 
measures 
were 
taken 
to 
prevent infection, provides 
an example of the path the 
U.S. should take in slowing 

the spread of the virus. 
“If we can prevent it from 
being too accelerated we 
can 
prevent 
widespread 
transmission,” 
Eisenberg 
said. “We want to look more 
like South Korea and less like 
Italy. Especially now in this 
critical time period, where 
cases are just emerging, we 
don’t wanna overwhelm the 
hospitals and really unroll 
widespread testing: identify 
the clusters faster and then 
it’s a bit more targeted.”

Is there a time period 
for how long the virus will 
continue to spread?
The answer is still unclear. 
“It won’t be surprising 
if it is seasonal like other 
coronaviruses, but this is a 
unique, emerging pathogen 
and we are still unsure,” 
Eisenberg said. 
Reporters Hannah Mackay 
and Varsha Vedapudi can be 
reached at mackayh@umich.
edu 
and 
varshakv@umich.
edu. 

“We’re taking every step 
that we can to mitigate 
the 
virus 
spread 
and 
keep Michiganders safe,” 
Whitmer said in the press 
conference.
The 
two 
diagnosed 
cases in Michigan include 
a 
middle-aged 
Oakland 
County 
woman 
who 
has 
recently 
traveled 
internationally 
and 
a 
middle-aged Wayne County 
man 
who 
has 
recently 
traveled domestically.
Michigan 
Medicine 
announced 
Wednesday 
morning 
the 
hospital 
is 
treating one of the two 
confirmed 
Michigan 
coronavirus cases. 
According 
to 
the 
University’s 
webpage 
on 
COVID-19, 
individuals 
should wash their hands 
often with soap for 20 
seconds, avoid close contact 
with those who are sick and 
to stay home when sick to 
prevent the spread of the 
virus.
Prior to the University’s 
decision to move classes 
online, universities across 
the 
state 
had 
already 
suspended 
in-person 
classes. 
Michigan 
State 
University 
suspended 
all 
face-to-face 
classes 
beginning at noon today, 
MSU 
President 
Samuel 
Stanley announced in an 
email 
to 
MSU 
students 
this morning. Online class 
instruction will last until 
April 20.
Central 
Michigan 
University 
also 
asked 
students not to return to 
campus after spring break 
and announced they will be 
moving their classes online 
through March 20. CMU 
will make a decision on 
whether to continue online 
classes on March 19.
Wayne State University 
announced 
Wednesday 
afternoon 
it 
will 
be 
extending 
spring 
break 
until March 23 to help plan 
for the transition to online 
classes.

Other 
universities 
across the United States 
have called off in-person 
classes this week, including 
Harvard 
University 
and 
Ohio State University.
As 
classes 
have 
been 
canceled across the country, 
some on social media have 
noted the sudden requests 
for students to leave campus 
may be harder to adjust to 
for students who may rely 
on university housing or 
meal 
plans. 
Additionally, 
they said some students may 
depend on work-study as a 
source of income. 
Others 
have 
noted 
students may not be able 
to go home because of 
transportation 
costs 
or 
travel 
restrictions, 
or 
because coronavirus may 
be more widespread in that 
location. 
Before 
the 
University 
announced the cancellation 
of 
classes, 
students 
on 
campus began creating a 
spreadsheet 
of 
resources 
to help students who may 
be 
disproportionately 
impacted by the changes.
Michigan 
Dining 
sent 
an 
email 
to 
MDining 
employees 
Wednesday 
afternoon letting students 
know they plan to continue 
having food available. 
The 
email 
stated 
MDining 
is 
increasing 
their sanitation processes 
– including the back of the 
house 
and 
some 
spaces 
leading up to the dining hall. 
Additionally, greeters are 
no longer swiping M-Cards 
and students swipe their 
own. 
Symptoms of coronavirus 
include fever, cough and 
shortness of breath. To stop 
the spread of the virus, the 
Centers for Disease Control 
recommend 
people 
wash 
their hands often and avoid 
touching their eyes, nose 
and mouth.
Daily News Editor Barbara 
Collins can be reached at 
bcolli@umich.edu. 
Daily 
News Editor Claire Hao can 
be reached at cmhao@umich.
edu. 
Daily 
News 
Editor 
Emma Stein can be reached 
at enstein@umich.edu. 

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, March 12, 2020 — 3

CANCELED
From Page 1

COUNCIL
From Page 1A

The 
main 
concern, 
according 
to 
Martin, 
is 
containing its rapid spread. 
“Most people that get 
this virus aren’t going to be 
severely ill,” Martin said. 
“When you’ve got a new 
virus that’s potentially going 
to affect large numbers of 
people, what you want to do 
is try to slow things down as 
much as possible, and a good 
way to do that is to stop 
people from congregating in 
big groups. The University 
could do a whole lot by being 
as flexible as possible with 
allowing students to recover 
from at home when they’re 
sick.”
Sue Anne Bell, assistant 
professor at the School of 
Nursing and a specialist 
in the effects of health 
disasters, 
added 
that 
COVID-19’s effect on the 
young, healthy demographic 
is minimal while the risk for 
elderly populations or those 
with chronic diseases is 
much greater.
“For people that have no 
significant 
health 
issues, 
young 
adults 
who 
are 
healthy in general, and also 
in children, there have been 
fairly low rates of serious 
complications,” Bell said. 
“The bigger issue is that, 
while a college-age student 
might contract the virus, it’s 
the spreading of the virus to 
other groups of people who 
have those chronic diseases, 
or 
an 
older 
population 
where they’re much more 
susceptible to some of those 
serious effects.”
Sandro Cinti, professor 
of 
infectious 
disease 
at 
Michigan Medicine who is 
involved 
in 
preparations 
for 
emerging 
infectious 
diseases, 
commented 
on 
the misconceptions he has 
encountered in comparison 
to the reality of the virus. 
“I know a lot of people 
have visions of many people 
dying and being in the 
hospital, but very likely 
most people will be fine, 
they won’t ever have to 
even go to the doctor,” Cinti 
said. “It’s a disease that we 
need to pay attention to, 
but generally, people will 
do pretty well even if they 
get infected with it, and 
there are no treatments and 
there’s no vaccine at this 
time, so it’s really all about 
community mitigation.”
Cinti explained some of 
the measures that Michigan 
Medicine 
is 
taking 
to 
prepare 
for 
COVID-19 
patients and how they plan 
to keep other patients safe.
“We’re looking at how 
we’re 
going 
to 
manage 
patients within the hospital, 
where we’re going to put 
patients, where we would 
cohort 
patients, 
putting 
them in certain parts of 
the hospital where they 
will be so they wouldn’t be 
exposed to other patients,” 
Cinti said. “There’s only 
limited testing right now. 

So if somebody wants to 
come in and get a test, they 
won’t be able to get it … 
unless they have symptoms 
and a very positive screen 
for having been exposed to 
Coronavirus.”
With 
the 
apparent 
minimal threat to a young 
and healthy demographic 
and 
the 
high 
potential 
for spread to higher risk 
populations, 
University 
epidemiologists and health 
care professionals said the 
best courses of large scale 
action against COVID-19 
are collective efforts to 
lower community’s health 
risks. 
Arnold 
Monto, 
the 
Thomas Francis Collegiate 
Professor of Epidemiology 
at the School of Public 
Health and an international 
expert 
on 
transmission 
prevention, 
said 
in 
similar 
flu 
outbreaks, 
pharmaceutical 
resources 
have been available but 
are lacking in the current 
situation.
“What 
is 
really 
most 
pertinent 
in 
terms 
of 
what’s going on now is 
the attention on what are 
called non pharmaceutical 
interventions because the 
three pillars of response 
to a flu pandemic were 
antivirals, 
vaccines 
and 
non-pharmaceutical 
intervention,” Monto said. 
“We don’t have two of the 
pillars for COVID-19.”
With the evident necessity 
for 
non-pharmaceutical 
intervention, Bell proposed 
taking the idea of serious 
social 
distancing 
within 
the University community 
as 
opposed 
to 
mass 
quarantines. 
“I think we have to move 
from this idea of these 
large 
scale 
quarantines 
to thinking about social 
distancing,” Bell said. “We 
don’t have the systems in 
place to just flip a switch 
and turn to an online class 
or cancel classes, but when it 
boils down to it, promoting 
and preserving the health 
of our community might be 
the more important thing 
to think about than missing 
class.”
In 
the 
past 
week, 
multiple 
universities 
across the country have 
canceled 
in-person 
classes in response to the 
virus, 
including 
Harvard 
University and Ohio State 
University. Many professors 
at the University have said 
they are preparing to move 
classes online in the event 
that 
the 
administration 
instructs them to do so.
STAMPS Professor Susan 
Funkenstein 
has 
already 
moved her ARTDES 151 
class online for a period 
of two weeks after being 
asked to explore alternative 
lecture delivery modes. 
Brad 
Smith, 
associate 
dean for academic programs 
at the Stamps School of 
Art & Design, wrote about 
efforts 
the 
school 
was 
making to determine the 
best way to continue the 

semester 
when 
classes 
moved online in an email to 
The Daily.
“Like the rest of the 
University, 
the 
Stamps 
School of Art & Design 
is taking a look at our 
current 
course 
offerings 
and evaluating alternative 
modes of delivery should the 
need arise,” Smith wrote. 
“As part of this exploration 
and at the request of our 
Dean, Guna Nadarajan, two 
Stamps 
lecturers, 
Susan 
Funkenstein and Melanie 
Manos, 
were 
asked 
to 
explore alternative modes 
of course delivery for the 
lecture component of their 
courses.”
Smith also addressed how 
University 
administration 
had instructed faculty to 
proceed with planning in 
the event that in person 
classes are not permitted to 
meet. 
“University 
administration 
has 
been 
asking units to consider 
how 
we 
might 
deliver 
classes to students under 
conditions where students 
or faculty might not be 
able to attend in person, 
in order to be prepared 
for a range of conditions,” 
Smith wrote. “For students 
who 
are 
currently 
self-
quarantining or ill: faculty 
at Stamps are ready to 
provide 
accommodations. 
This is being addressed on 
a 1-1 basis.”
Students 
discussed 
varying views on COVID-19 
with The Daily, specifically 
regarding the health risks 
it poses to campus and 
the 
necessity 
for 
either 
school closure or online 
classes instead of in-person 
meetings. 
LSA 
sophomore 
Ryan 
Fisher, secretary of the 
University’s 
chapter 
of 
College 
Republicans, 
sent an email out to the 
organization Sunday night 
dismissing concerns that 
coronavirus is the “end of 
the world.”
“Also, don’t worry so much 
about 
the 
Coronavirus: 
the idea that this is the 
end of the world is FAKE 
NEWS! It’s a virus, not 
far removed from normal 
flu,” Fisher’s email reads. 
“Even if you get the virus, 
if your immune system is 
half-functional, then you’d 
likely survive regardless. 
Don’t fall for the HOAX of 
world destruction. Literally 
wash your hands and stay 
home if you’re sick. Easy.”
LSA 
freshman 
Nick 
Schuler, 
spokesman 
for 
College Republicans, told 
The Daily the statement 
was referencing the panic 
that the media is portraying 
about the coronavirus.
“Ryan said ‘the idea that 
Coronavirus is the end of 
the world is fake news!’ 
This is in reference to the 
hyperbolic 
fearmongering 
done by the media that has 
inspired nothing but panic, 
making 
matters 
worse,” 
Schuler 
said. 
“He 
also 
points out that the survival 

rate is very high for those 
with functioning immune 
systems, also true. We feel 
that the school has created 
a culture of fear around 
the virus rather than one 
of understanding and that 
the outlook for the virus 
is much better than the 
doomsday narrative being 
put out by alarmists.”
On 
Tuesday, 
it 
was 
announced that an EECS 
280 midterm exam initially 
scheduled for Wednesday 
will now be online as a 
precaution 
against 
the 
spread of COVID-19.
LSA 
freshman 
Hadley 
Samarco, who is enrolled 
in EECS 280, said there 
was a lot of backlash to 
this decision and gave her 
personal reaction to the 
change. 
“There is a lot of confusion 
and backlash right now, 
because originally you were 
supposed to still abide to 
just having a note sheet and 
not cheating, and there was 
a lot of concern as to how 
that’ll work,” Samarco said. 
“I appreciate the concern, 
but I think it’s more trouble 
than it’s worth.”
LSA 
freshman 
Deanna 
Dwyer said she thinks the 
University’s emails about 
COVID-19 
have 
been 
a 
good way to stay informed 
and 
that 
while 
certain 
professors 
are 
changing 
their attendance policies, 
she does not wish to take 
online classes. 
“I would be really upset 
if we have to go to online 
classes, just because I feel 
like clubs would have to 
stop meeting then too,” 
Dwyer 
said. 
“And 
not 
everyone 
has 
access 
to 
computers and this could 
really affect those who are 
not as economically stable.”
In an effort to keep campus 
healthy 
for 
community 
members who are not self-
isolating, the department 
of 
Environment, 
Health 
& 
Safety 
and 
Custodial 
& Grounds Services are 
expanding 
their 
efforts 
to clean heavy-trafficked 
areas. 
Danielle Sheen, executive 
director of EHS, explained 
the precautions EHS and 
the Custodial and Grounds 
Services 
are 
taking 
to 
sanitize buildings at the 
University 
in 
an 
email 
to 
The 
Daily.“For 
main 
campus buildings served 
by Custodial and Grounds 
Services, they have been 
increasing their frequency 
of cleaning of the high 
touch 
point 
surfaces,” 
Sheen wrote. “Dorm rooms 
are cleaned by students, 
but common areas in dorms 
are cleaned by Housing 
Custodial 
Staff. 
They 
ramped up their efforts for 
cleaning as well with the 
return of students from 
Spring Break.”
Reporter Jasmin Lee can 
be 
reached 
at 
itsshlee@
umich.edu. Reporter Hannah 
Mackay can be reached at 
mackayh@umich.edu.

CONCERN
From Page 1

The statement said the risk is 
low for employees and visitors, 
regardless of proximity to 
where the patient is located 
or whether individuals have 
been in the hospital recently. 
The statement noted risk is 
considered high for those 
without protective equipment 
with prolonged exposure to 
someone with symptoms.
Additionally, the statement 
noted 
Michigan 
Medicine 
is monitoring the “rapidly 

evolving” 
situation 
with 
state and local public health 
officials. Michigan Medicine 
has 
been 
monitoring 
the 
supply of “crucial” items such 
as masks, hand sanitizer and 
other protective equipment 
and has been placing orders 
for additional quantities, the 
statement said. 
In 
an 
email 
sent 
to 
Michigan 
Medicine 
volunteers 
Wednesday 
afternoon, Loulie Meynard, 
Volunteer Services director, 
advised volunteers not to 
come in for their scheduled 
shifts 
and 
all 
absences 

starting from March 8 will 
not be counted in volunteers’ 
records. 
While 
Meynard 
said Michigan Medicine is 
not saying volunteers may 
not come in, she noted that 
directive is expected to come 
soon.
On Wednesday afternoon, 
University 
 
of 
Michigan 
President 
Mark 
Schlissel 
announced 
a 
two-day 
cancellation of classes. On 
Monday, classes will resume 
online until the end of the 
semester. 
Spring 
study 
abroad programs have been 
canceled. 

Michigan State University 
announced 
Wednesday 
morning that all in-person 
classes will be moved online 
through April 20. With the 
move, MSU joined schools 
including Harvard University, 
Indiana University and the 
University of Toledo who have 
altered in-person education 
in response to COVID-19.
Managing 
News 
Editor 
Sayali Amin can be reached 
at sayalia@umich.edu. Daily 
News Editors Claire Hao and 
Alex Harring can be reached 
at 
cmhao@umich.edu 
and 
harring@umich.edu.

PATIENT
From Page 1

More than 20 women have 
brought 
forward 
sexual 
misconduct claims against 
the former provost. In 2009, 
an 
anonymous 
woman 
reported that Philbert had 
sexually harassed her.
Thomas 
Komorowski, 
a 
former research associate for 
the University who worked 
in Philbert’s lab at the School 
of Public Health in 2003, 
claimed in a 2004 lawsuit he 
was wrongfully terminated 
due 
to 
an 
inappropriate 
relationship 
between 
Philbert 
and 
a 
female 
researcher. Philbert denied 
that Komorowski was laid off 
due to his relationship with 
the female researcher and 
claimed Komorowski’s grant 
aid had run out.
The University retained an 
outside firm to investigate 
Philbert, a process that is 
still ongoing, according to 
the statement. 
“Once it is complete, a 
determination will be made 
whether Philbert will be 
subject 
to 
proceedings 
to remove him from his 
faculty role,” the statement 
reads. “Meanwhile, Philbert 
will 
remain 
on 
paid 
administrative leave from his 
duties as a tenured faculty 
member.”
Philbert is now on paid 
administrative 
leave 
from 
his position as a tenured 
professor of toxicology in the 
School of Public Health. As 
Public Health Dean, Philbert 
earned $463,696 in 2016.
In the statement, Schlissel 
said the investigation is still 
underway, 
with 
resources 
provided to those affected.
“As 
the 
investigation 
continues, 
we 
encourage 
anyone 
with 
information 
to come forward and we 
encourage anyone affected 
by this issue to use the 
confidential 
counseling 

resources we have set up,” 
Schlissel said. 
As 
provost, 
Philbert 
was 
the 
highest-ranking 
University 
administrator 
after 
Schlissel. 
Philbert 
earned about $570,000 a year 
in his position, where he also 
acted as the top academic 
officer and chief budgetary 
officer. 
Susan M. Collins, former 
dean of the Ford School of 
Public Policy, was named 
acting 
provost 
in 
late 
January. 
Schlissel now plans to 
recommend 
Collins 
serve 
as interim provost at the 
Board of Regents meeting on 
March 26.
Philbert 
was 
approved 
as provost in June 2017, 
assuming 
the 
office 
in 
September 
of 
that 
year. 
Before that, he served as 
dean of the School of Public 
Health.
Last fall, Philbert played 
a role in the formation of a 
faculty group to consider 
amending 
the 
bylaws 
regarding the dismissal of 
tenured faculty. In October 
2019, he met with the Senate 
Advisory 
Committee 
on 
University Affairs after the 
firing 
of 
Music, 
Theater 
& Dance professor David 
Daniels for allegations of 
sexual 
misconduct 
and 
discussed 
amendments 
to policies governing the 
removal process.
“We have to be very careful 
and thoughtful, and quickly 
amend the bylaws to protect 
tenure and to protect our 
faculty and to protect society 
from the bad behavior that is 
frequently in the headlines,” 
Philbert said at the meeting.
Managing 
News 
Editor 
Leah Graham can be reached 
at 
leahgra@michigandaily.
com. 
Daily 
News 
Editors 
Barbara Collins and Emma 
Stein 
can 
be 
reached 
at 
bcolli@michigandaily.com 
and 
enstein@michigandaily.
com.

PHILBERT
From Page 1

QUESTIONS
From Page 2

