2 — Tuesday, March 17, 2020
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

With the rapidly evolving 

coronavirus 
outbreak 

in the United States and 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 

executive order, many local 

businesses are to remain 

temporarily closed. 

As 
of 
Monday 
night, 

there 
are 
54 
confirmed 

cases 
of 
COVID-19, 
the 

disease caused by the novel 

coronavirus, in Michigan. A 

case at the Vic Village-North 

student apartment building 

was 
announced 
Friday 

afternoon, 
shortly 
after 

University President Mark 

Schlissel disclosed that a 

member of the University of 

Michigan community tested 

positive for the virus. 

On Thursday evening, the 

city of Ann Arbor notified 

residents that all events with 

50 or more attendees would 

be canceled. Public spaces 

like the Ann Arbor Farmers 

Market, Ann Arbor City 

Hall, city parks and the Ann 

Arbor District Libraries are 

all closed. 

Some 
Ann 
Arbor 

businesses 
have 

independently decided to 

temporarily close in order 

to 
mitigate 
the 
virus’s 

spread. Those that remained 

open are already noticing a 

significant decrease in the 

amount of foot traffic and 

number of sales. 

Literati Bookstore, a staple 

book shop in Ann Arbor, has 

closed indefinitely due to 

concerns about the growing 

coronavirus 
outbreak. 

The 
change 
is 
effective 

immediately. 

Mike 
and 
Hilary 

Gustafson, the owners of 

Literati, wrote in an email to 

customers that the decision 

to close was difficult but 

reassured customers their 

store would continue online. 

“What a week,” Mike 

Gustafson wrote. “Hilary 

and I are a bit emotional 

and feel like we have some 

whiplash, as I’m sure many 

of you do, too. It is hard 

because we feel an intense 

need to come together as a 

community, and yet cannot 

do so physically.”

The decision to close 

also comes after Whitmer 

declared a state of emergency 

and 
the 
University 
of 

Michigan moved all classes 

online for the rest of the 

winter semester, canceling 

all study abroad programs 

and recalling all students 

outside of the country. On 

Friday, Schlissel encouraged 

all students still on campus 

to return home if they are 

able to.

On Saturday, RoosRoast 

Coffee 
on 
East 
Liberty 

Street put a sign on their 

door 
telling 
customers 

they would no longer offer 

seating — all food and 

drinks will be served to go. 

Urban Outfitters, which has 

a location on State Street, 

closed 
all 
global 
stores 

Saturday while Red Yoga 

on Liberty Street closed 

through March 28. 

Melanie 
Chasseur, 

a 
University 
alum 
and 

employee at the clothing 

store Pitaya on State Street, 

said the business has no 

current plans to close but has 

been struggling to keep the 

store running due to the fact 

that most of its employees 

are University students. 

“About four or five of our 

employees have gone home 

and they had positions in 

the 
summer,” 
Chasseur 

said. “We have been having 

scheduling conflicts. We are 

currently hiring because we 

don’t have enough employees 

for the hours available.”

Chasseur said she has 

noticed 
that 
because 

Pitaya 
mainly 
serves 

students, especially those 

in fraternities or sororities, 

sales have dipped as students 

are urged to return to their 

hometowns or stay in their 

homes as often as possible. 

“(The business) has been 

rather dead,” Chasseur said. 

“At Pitaya, I’ve been noticing 

that a lot of people haven’t 

been coming in. A majority 

of our demographics who 

shop with us are students 

and students involved in 

Greek life buying things for 

date parties and events and 

going out in general. That 

has halted.”

In response to recent 

developments 
across 

the state, Gov. Gretchen 

Whitmer 
ordered 
the 

closure of all K-12 schools in 

an effort to promote social 

distancing and slow the 

spread of the virus. Whitmer 

also banned gatherings of 

250 people or more in an 

executive order Friday. 

At a press conference 

on 
Sunday, 
Michigan 

Attorney 
General 
Dana 

Nessel said public spaces 

like 
restaurants 
or 
bars 

could face consequences like 

losing their liquor licenses 

or being forced to shut down 

if they violate this order. 

“In the event there are 

some bad apples out there 

that choose not to (follow 

this order), then we are 

prepared 
and 
ready 
to 

defend 
the 
law,” 
Nessel 

said. “As there are further 

developments, 
I 
trust 

that the governor will do 

whatever she needs to do in 

the event that there needs to 

be more stringent orders that 

are undertaken. But for the 

meantime, we are operating 

under these current orders 

and we’re very hopeful that 

if everybody follows them, 

that we’ll be able to keep the 

public safe.”

In addition to bars, other 

Ann Arbor businesses, such 

as restaurants and cafes, are 

now beginning to offer free 

meals to the nearly 18,000 

students in the Ann Arbor 

Public Schools district.

Piada Italian Street Food 

on State Street announced in 

an email Saturday they would 

offer free pasta and soft 

drinks during lunch hours 

starting 
Monday, 
March 

16 until April 3. Similarly, 

TeaHaus 
in 
Kerrytown 

said in a Facebook post 

they would begin handing 

out free boxed lunches at 

EatMoreTea, 
their 
sister 

location at 211 E. Ann Street, 

on Monday. 

“We are amazed by the 

outpouring of support for our 

free boxed lunch initiative!” 

Lisa McDonald, the owner 

of TeaHaus, wrote. “What 

went from me buying a few 

extra loaves of bread and 

sandwich makings for us to 

put together and give to any 

kid who was hungry, has 

turned into an incredible 

showing of the kindness in 

our community.”

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, avoid 

touching their eyes, nose 

and mouth and stay clear of 

large group gatherings as 

much as possible. 

Daily News Editor Liat 

Weinstein can be reached at 

weinsl@umich.edu

LIAT WEINSTEIN

Daily News Editor

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JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily

Daily staff photographer Julia Schachinger found a nest of week-old Great Horned Owls in Island Park, near the U-M hospital, last Thursay afternoon. 
Local businesses respond to 
recent COVID-19 outbreak 
Some establishments closed prior to executive order, help community 
adjust to social distancing measures in order to protect public health

