What to know today 🌅
Northville Public Schools: More than 75 students in quarantine after out-of-school parties
The Northville Public Schools district superintendent sent a letter to families, students and staff on Wednesday explaining why more than 75 of the district’s roughly 7,000 students are quarantining.
In her letter, Superintendent Mary Kay Gallagher said she believes the district has had effective protocols to keep kids safe in school amid the coronavirus pandemic this fall. However, Gallagher said out-of-school parties, and in one case a party bus, without social distancing or mask-wearing put dozens of students at risk of contracting the virus. Gallagher said two positive cases of COVID connected with the out-of-school parties resulted in more 75 quarantined students as of Wednesday.
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‘Count Scary and Me’: Former WDIV director reflects on taping ‘Scary’ specials
If you grew up in the Detroit area in the 1980s, you probably remember “Count Scary,” a character played by Detroit radio personality Tom Ryan, who appeared on WDIV from 1982 to the early 1990s as a vampire who loved B horror films. His famous catch phrase was “Ooooh, that’s scaary!” Count Scary would rank the scary level of each movie with a scale of pants, referring to scaring your pants off.
Coronavirus in Michigan 🦠
The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 167,545 as of Wednesday, including 7,257 deaths, state officials report.
Wednesday’s update represents 3,271 new cases and 18 additional deaths. This is the second-highest one-day case total, after Saturday’s 3,338 cases. On Tuesday, the state reported 164,274 total cases and 7,239 deaths.
New COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise in Michigan. Testing has increased in recent weeks, with more than 40,000 diagnostic tests reported per day, but the positive rate has increased to around 5%. Hospitalizations have increased steadily for the last four weeks, including upticks in critical care and ventilator use.
Michigan’s 7-day moving average for daily cases was 2,126 on Tuesday, the highest it has ever been. The state’s fatality rate is 4.5%. The state also reports “active cases,” which were listed at 42,000 as of Tuesday, its highest mark on record. More than 114,000 have recovered in Michigan.
Here’s a look at more of the data: