LANSING, Mich. – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has lifted some restrictions on overnight summer camps and K-12 school sport activities across the state.
Whitmer issued executive order 2020-120 on Friday afternoon. It goes into effect Monday (June 15).
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Summer camps
“As we’ve worked together to bend the curve and protect our families from COVID-19, our kids have lost time in the classroom and missed out on playdates, birthday parties and graduations," Whitmer said. "That’s why I’m glad they’ll have an opportunity to spend a week or weekend away at camp.
This order affects overnight residential, travel and troop camps.
Camps are required to follow guidance from the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, which will be published “in the coming days,” according to the governor’s office.
The guidelines were developed in collaboration with representatives from the camp industry and public health officials.
School sports
The executive order also allows certain K-12 school sports activities and other in-person extracurricular school activities to resume. Participants must follow social distancing guidelines, Whitmer said.
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Here is the sentence in executive order 2020-65 that has been amended: “K–12 school sports activities and other in-person extracurricular school activities are suspended while any state of emergency or state of disaster prompted by COVID-19 is in effect.”
Now, school sports activities are allowed as long as they follow the guidelines in executive order 2020-110 (for most of the state) or executive order 2020-115 (for regions six and eight).
Indoor exercise facilities are still closed across most of the state, excluding the Upper Peninsula and the Traverse City Region.
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“This is another significant milestone for Michigan as we continue to slowly and safely reopen our economy, and I want to thank Michiganders for doing their part to flatten the curve,” Whitmer said." While this is good news, there’s still more work to do to protect Michigan families from the spread of this virus, avoid a second wave, and protect the heroes on the front lines. We will get through this together.”