Parents push for Michigan mask mandate in schools | News, Sports, Jobs

LANSING – A coalition of parent groups on Wednesday urged the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to require masking inside all schools to fight the coronavirus and pledged to fight politicians who s ‘oppose such mandates.

The Michigan Parents Alliance for Safe Schools includes pro-mask groups from a dozen counties – seven with school mask mandates and five without.

“Right now you have about 60% of Michigan’s kids covered. And the remaining 40%? We will continue to fight for them ”, said Emily Mellits, a mother of two school-aged children in Macomb County. It is Michigan’s third most populous county and, unlike most large counties and many small ones, does not require a face covering, leaving it up to schools to decide.

The coalition, which launched a petition demanding a statewide mandate for MDHHS director Elizabeth Hertel, acted a day after a Republican-controlled Senate committee approved bills that would prevent state and local health officials to require masks to attend school. Some GOP lawmakers have threatened financial repercussions on county health departments that issue mask orders.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration lifted a broad mandate on indoor masks in June, citing vaccinations and low infection rates. She said it’s best to hide the decisions to be made locally as it increases the chances of people complying.

But Mellits said school board members are not public health experts and “It shouldn’t be falling on them.” Some, she said, do not trust advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, both of which recommend universal masking in schools as cases have increased.

Dr Rosemary Olivero, a pediatric infectious disease specialist in western Michigan who has three children in school, said masking in indoor environments where transmission of COVID-19 is high or substantial “Is just not negotiable. The absence of a universal mask mandate in the state of Michigan has not only left our children vulnerable to COVID-19, but also unvaccinated and fragile members of our community. This will undoubtedly put us back in our ability to control the pandemic and live safely with this virus. “