NMU tightened COVID-19 restrictions in response to rising numbers in Marquette County. The university sent out a press release Oct. 22, detailing changes to their COVID-19 policies. The changes include modifying upcoming events, limitations for non-NMU visitors on campus, PEIF access for community members and the use of NMU facilities for non-university purposes.
The two events scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24 will continue in a modified format. The Center for Student Enrichment will hand out rakes and bags during Make a Difference Day to ensure no contact with the homeowners. The Marching Band’s scheduled performance will take place but instead will be live-streamed.
According to the press release, those who are not from NMU and want to come on campus need to be approved by the appropriate division leader. They urge virtual meetings, presentations and events as an alternative for in-person visitors. Community members will also be unable to visit the PEIF or hold non-university related events at NMU for this period of time. The changes take effect at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, and will go through Friday, Nov. 6 after which they will be reevaluated.
According to the NMU Safe On Campus dashboard, cases have seen an increase with a total of 18 active cases of COVID-19. Of those who have tested positive two are employees, 13 are off-campus and three are on-campus. There are currently four students staying in the quarantine and isolation housing in Spalding Hall of the 150 rooms available. Also, NMU has recently begun its surveillance testing and has had three total positives of the 472 tests completed.
Data provided by the state of Michigan shows Marquette has a cumulative case count of 766 confirmed cases and 143 probable cases which is an increase of 477 cases from the previous COVID-19 update. According to the same data, Region 8 which contains the U.P. has a cumulative case count of 5,457 with 4,667 cases being confirmed and an additional 790 probable. The data also points to the largest cases per age group being ages 20-29 with 844 cumulative cases followed by ages 50-59 which has 657.
The New York Times reports that over the past week the state has seen an average of 1,921 caes per day which is an increase of 91% from the average two weeks earlier. They also report a total of 167,890 cumulative cases and 7,420 deaths with an additional 1,050 hospitalized.
The New York Times additional reports the United States has a total of over 8.3 million cumulative cases and 222,157 deaths. Over the past week, the New York Times reports that there has been an average of 60,573 cases per day which is an increase of 32% from the average of two weeks earlier.
