“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 News The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com APARTMENT From Page 1 STUDENTS From Page 1 Read more at MichiganDaily.com “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 From Page 1