ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan health officials said on Tuesday that a spike in COVID-19 cases was not because of in-person classes, but because of social gatherings.
Now, they hope students will follow a stay-in-place order the next two weeks, especially when Michigan State football travels to Ann Arbor on Halloween.
“I know a lot of students who have been treating COVID-19 very safely and playing by all the rules. Our apartment, in particular, we were background checking everyone we saw,” said U of M undergrad Gregory Pool.
But many other students were going to off-campus parties, which led to outbreaks in the dorms.
“Very disappointing to see your fellow students not being able to control themselves and completely disobeying what we’ve been told is good for our community and good for our own health,” said U of M undergrad Alex Hutchinson.
For Ethan Tipping, president of the Sport Business Association, the order has already forced the association to cancel some events.
“A lot of hands are being raised about... why are we being asked to take it more seriously when in fact it’s the people taking advantage of it and they were partying and seeing each other,” Tipping said.
As for the students who are infected, U of M’s health director is worried they could quickly max out the housing set aside for quarantine and isolation.
The university is also moving to take more classes from in person to online, which some believe should have been the plan all along.