“The first cases of COVID-

19 in Washtenaw County have 

been 
confirmed,” 
Loveluck 

said. 
“These 
individuals 

remain isolated and have been 

working closely with the health 

department to identify close 

contacts and other lower-risk 

contacts so they can be notified, 

quarantined and alert to the 

possibility of symptoms.” 

COVID-19 symptoms include 

fever, 
cough 
and 
shortness 

of breath, which may appear 

two to 14 days after exposure. 

The virus is thought to spread 

through 
the 
respiratory 

droplets of those infected, so 

maintaining a distance of at least 

six feet between individuals is 

recommended. 

To 
prevent 
spreading 
the 

virus, the CDC recommends 

individuals wash their hands 

frequently and avoid touching 

their faces, advice that Loveluck 

reiterated. Those who are sick 

should stay home and wear a 

facemask. 
Unless 
caring 
for 

someone who is sick, CDC 

recommends against wearing a 

face mask if you are not sick. 

On Tuesday night, Whitmer 

announced 
the 
first 
two 

confirmed cases in Michigan and 

declared a state of emergency. 

In 
response, 
the 
University 

canceled classes for two days 

on Wednesday afternoon and is 

moving to online classes starting 

Monday, March 16 until the end 

of the semester. 

All spring and summer study 

abroad 
programs 
have 
been 

called off, and the University 

has begun recalling all students 

currently 
abroad. 
Spring 

Commencement 
was 
also 

canceled. 

Both the University and state 

government have implemented 

rules 
to 
encourage 
social 

distancing. 
Gov. 
Gretchen 

Whitmer issued an executive 

order 
banning 
all 
events 

with more than 250 people 

in Michigan until April 5 on 

Friday morning. The University 

has banned all events with 

more than 100 people, though 

Schlissel 
emphasized 
in 
his 

email on Friday that all social 

gatherings 
in 
large 
groups 

should be avoided. 

“We strongly encourage you 

to limit interactions in groups 

this weekend and in celebrating 

St. 
Patrick’s 
Day,” 
Schlissel 

wrote. “Reducing the density 

of people in physical spaces 

will help to prevent the spread 

of disease not just within our 

community but for society at 

large. Even in small groups, we 

strongly recommend practicing 

social distancing.”

Additionally, 
the 
city 
of 

Ann Arbor canceled all city-

permitted events expecting 50 

or more people on Thursday 

afternoon. 

In his email Friday afternoon, 

Schlissel 
encouraged 
all 

students who are able to return 

home to do so. For students 

who stay on campus, University 

residence halls and dining halls 

will remain open. 

Other 
institutions 
in 
the 

state, 
including 
Michigan 

State 
University, 
Washtenaw 

Community 
College, 
Central 

Michigan University and Wayne 

State 
University, 
have 
also 

transitioned 
to 
online-only 

classes. 

Additionally, 
on 
Thursday 

afternoon, 
Whitmer 
ordered 

the closure of all Michigan K-12 

schools until April 5. 

To help those in need of aid 

during 
the 
rapidly-evolving 

coronavirus outbreak, a group 

of 
students 
and 
organizers 

have 
gathered 
resources 
of 

community-sourced 
options 

for housing, food, health care, 

transport, 
emotional 
support 

and more. 

Local businesses have also 

moved to help people whose 

lives have been disrupted by the 

outbreak. Starting on Monday, 

TeaHaus will also be handing 

out free boxed lunches to school-

aged children at their sister 

location on 211 E. Ann Street. 

Daily News Editor Claire Hao 

can be reached at cmhao@umich.

edu.

The 
email 
included 
details 

regarding 
relaxing 
documentation 

requirements and grade penalties for 

students missing class, as well as self-

isolation tips, illness prevention and 

campus preparation.

Public Health senior Josie Lee, 

president of Curis Public Health 

Advocacy, said she was concerned 

with the initial response the University 

issued to students returning from 

Spring Break.

“(From) studying public health, we 

see that we can save a lot more money 

if we’re preventative than if we’re 

reactionary,” Lee said. “I’m kind of 

surprised, I felt like knowing that this 

was happening in the U.S., and knowing 

the potential that Spring Break could 

have in bringing the virus to Michigan, 

I’m surprised that the University didn’t 

take 
better-standardized 
protocol 

or tell their faculty how they could 

prepare — maybe even making them 

have plans with how they could move 

their courses online.”

Public 
Health 
senior 
Emily 

Benedict shared similar sentiments. 

She worried about the spread of 

COVID-19 following Spring Break, 

considering many students traveled to 

areas affected by the virus.

“In my mind, it’s very unlikely that 

no one came back from spring without 

an outbreak in their system,” Benedict 

said. “I just feel like having classes 

those few days potentially allowed 

for it to spread. I feel like maybe over 

spring break there should have been 

more preparation and discussion 

knowing people are going to be coming 

back from areas that may have had the 

virus.”

On Friday afternoon, a case of 

COVID-19 was confirmed in student 

apartment building Vic Village-North 

on Central Campus through an email 

sent to residents by the leasing office.

Upon return from Spring Break, 

Lee said she felt her classes were not 

affected by the precautionary measures 

the University recommended in the 

email. She noted the limited actions 

her classes took and the potential for 

students to not follow self-isolation 

protocols.

“I think the warnings from the 

school, just the emails that we got from 

the provost, the deans of our schools 

or the president — it was something 

that I wonder if it was enough,” Lee 

said. “When I was going to my classes, 

some of my classes didn’t even entirely 

mention how they were going to 

handle the situation, or they didn’t 

even discuss it, and I feel like some of 

the people in those areas might not 

have self-isolated, and there might 

not have been proper protocols, so I 

feel like the warning the school gave 

to the students might have not been as 

explanatory, or telling, of why it was 

important.”

Monday, March 16, 2020 — 3
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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

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“But the reality is, even if students 

themselves may not get really sick, 

some will, and even more could 

be carriers of this disease … and 

pass it along to people who are 

immunocompromised, their parents, 

their grandparents. So even if they 

don’t feel the effects, gathering in these 

spaces, we’ve seen is one of the biggest 

ways this disease is spread.”

On Saturday night, Engineering 

student Adam Scott went to Rick’s 

American Cafe to celebrate St. Patrick’s 

Day weekend. Scott said he thinks 

the low risk of serious illness for 

young people who contract COVID-19 

contributes to students coming to bars 

against public health recommendations. 

“Clearly this is probably a bad idea, 

but I think most people don’t care 

because it’s a very selfish attitude,” Scott 

said. “They don’t think they’re going to 

get sick and they really don’t care how it 

affects others.”

Rick’s management did not respond 

to The Daily’s request for comment in 

time for publication.

COVID-19 is considered highly 

contagious and thought to be spread 

via 
infected 
respiratory 
droplets. 

Therefore, the Centers for Disease 

Control recommends keeping at least 

six feet of distance between individuals. 

The CDC also encourages social 

distancing, in which people avoid large 

social gatherings. By implementing 

these preventative techniques, national, 

state and local governments hope to 

avoid an influx of patients at health 

care facilities, a phenomenon that has 

crippled other countries, such as Italy, 

in their ability to contain and treat the 

disease. 

On Sunday evening, the CDC also 

recommended 
the 
cancellation 
or 

postponement 
of 
events 
bringing 

crowds of 50 people or more for the next 

eight weeks.

Faye Mendelson, Michigan Medicine 

employee and University alum, also 

went out to Rick’s Saturday night to 

reunite with old classmates. Mendolson 

told The Daily she thought her personal 

health risk of going to a bar was low.

“I feel like people should take it 

seriously and they should be safe,” 

Mendelson said. “They should take it as 

if it’s not just going to affect them, but 

it’s going to affect the people around 

them and the people that they’re close 

to, either family, friends of family or 

so forth. But at the same time, I don’t 

feel like we should completely close 

ourselves off from the world. Just be 

smart about it.”

To prevent the spread of the virus, the 

University and other colleges in the state 

and across the nation have transitioned 

to online classes for the remainder of 

the semester. Multiple emails Friday 

and Saturday from University President 

Mark Schlissel, other administrators 

and University offices have urged 

students to leave campus if they are able 

to do so. All University spring and study 

abroad programs have been canceled 

and the University is recalling students 

currently abroad. 

All University events expecting 

more than 100 people have been 

banned, leading to the cancellation of 

Spring Commencement, the NCAA 

tournament and all spring and winter 

sporting competitions, among other 

events. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has 

banned all events larger than 250, while 

the City of Ann Arbor has canceled all 

events expecting more than 50. 

For LSA senior Caelen Caspers, 

Rick’s and other bars hold emotional 

significance as places where friends have 

always met and enjoyed themselves. 

However, she stayed away from what 

she described as huge crowds at Rick’s, 

especially earlier in the week, when she 

said many students saw canceled classes 

as an opportunity to party.

“There’s a person at Vic Village who 

has (COVID-19), and I didn’t go to Rick’s 

on Thursday, but I guarantee they did,” 

Caspers said. “I hope they didn’t, but if 

they did, how do you not infect people in 

that proximity?”

The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s 

Office has also prohibited all events 

larger than 250 and discouraged 

events larger than 100. It recommends 

canceling gatherings larger than 10 

if there is someone with higher risk 

of severe illness involved. Failure to 

follow the order could be subject to a 

misdemeanor, resulting in up to 90 days 

in jail and/or a $200 fine. 

At a press conference on Sunday 

afternoon, Attorney General Dana 

Nessel said bars and restaurants could 

face a state-mandated shutdown or lose 

their liquor license if they do not comply 

with Whitmer’s order. She particularly 

referred to businesses having St. 

Patrick’s Day celebrations. 

“We’re hoping that no one has to be 

cited,” Nessel said. “Most proprietors in 

the industry are good actors and want 

to ensure the safety of their patrons 

and employees,” Nessel said. “But in the 

event there are some bad apples, we are 

prepared to enforce the law.”

Along with going to popular local 

bars, many students held their own 

large gatherings. Several houses near 

Central Campus hosted parties during 

the day on Saturday.

LSA sophomore Faye Polasek did not 

go to any parties or bars herself, but said 

she saw numerous house parties while 

driving down Hill Street during the day 

on Saturday.

“I passed tons of people in St. Patrick’s 

Day gear — like the whole darty getup,” 

Polasek said. “At basically every corner, 

people were walking places along the 

strip of Hill from Packard to South 

Forest. And then on my street where I 

live on South Forest, I saw multiple large 

house parties of people on the porches 

and the lawns, making me think there’s 

probably lots of people in the house 

as well. Same thing — all green for St 

Patrick’s Day.”

Polasek also noted she saw people 

visit other local bars such as Good Time 

Charley’s and The Brown Jug over the 

past week.

However, 
other 
students 
are 

emphasizing the importance of adhering 

to public health recommendations. On 

Friday, LSA junior Carolyn Chen posted 

one of several memes in the UMich 

Memes for Wolverteens Facebook 

group directed at students who were 

partying. Her post, with a picture of 

“hard to swallow pills” and a caption 

saying “your social life and (fear of 

missing out) is not worth risking the 

lives of other people,” has almost 1000 

likes.

Chen said she made the post because 

she was disappointed seeing many of 

her friends and others on social media 

go to bars and host large parties.

“A few days ago, I’ve just been seeing 

a lot of my friends and all over social 

media, people going out to clubs, parties, 

hanging out with their friends, selfies of 

everyone being really close together, not 

the six feet apart of social distancing,” 

Chen said.

Chen said she finds it frustrating 

that even students who are aware of 

the public health rationale of affecting 

vulnerable populations choose to go out.

“It’s such a privilege to be young and 

to not have to care whether or not you 

get impacted by the virus because you 

think you’re going to be fine,” Chen 

said. “It’s funny to me, I see people post 

‘Flatten the curve’ on their story, and 

then they’ll literally be at Rick’s that 

night, and I’m just like ‘what?’” 

Chen said she sympathizes with 

senior students, who have had their 

time left in college with their friends 

cut short. However, Chen said the 

coronavirus pandemic is too serious to 

ignore.

“I sympathize with the seniors, I’m 

not invalidating how sad it must be,” 

Chen said. “But I’m saying it’s even 

sadder to lose a loved one or lose your 

own life, and that is what is at stake 

here.”

Chen hypothesized that students may 

not be taking public health guidelines 

seriously because Michigan’s COVID-19 

cases were so recent. However, she still 

said she thinks large social gatherings, 

such as big house parties and crowded 

bars, are unacceptable. 

“To me, I think it’s a really, really 

selfish thing to do,” Chen said. “I get that 

it’s scary and that people don’t want to 

change the way they live, but sometimes 

you need to change the way you live 

in order to protect or help the rights 

of other people. And the right to live is 

definitely a right.”

The Centers for Disease Control 

recommends people wash their hands 

often and avoid touching their eyes, 

nose and mouth.

Symptoms of coronavirus include 

fever, cough and shortness of breath. 

Anyone who believes they have been 

exposed to COVID-19 should call their 

health care providers or the nearest 

hospital.

Daily News Editor Claire Hao can be 

reached at cmhao@umich.edu. Daily 

Staff Reporter Calder Lewis can be 

reached at calderll@umich.edu.

SOCIALIZING
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