DNR News Digest
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News Digest – Week of June 15, 2020
Join the #100in100 cleanup challenge and help keep your favorite forests healthy and beautiful. |
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Cast a line. Wait for a nibble. Reel in a keeper, especially your first fish. It’s a scenario played out across the state, year after year. If you’re looking for a great Father’s Day gift for your dad, grandpa or maybe that family friend who’s always there with the perfect fatherly advice, how about a day on the water? Better yet, if you are that dad, tell your family you want to go fishing!
It is well known that regularly spending time in the woods does a body good. A strengthened immune system, reduced blood pressure, increased energy, boosted moods and greater focus – all thanks to trees. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to say thanks? This summer, you can.
Why is it that some people seem to come into contact with ticks more often than others? How can I avoid ticks? Can the tick that has attached to me transmit Lyme disease? With the goal of helping people get answers to questions like these and developing better strategies to prevent tick bites and tick-borne diseases, a team from the University of Wisconsin, Columbia University and Michigan State University created The Tick App – a mobile health app that both provides tips on how to avoid ticks and invites users to share information about their own tick exposure.
MDHHS Issues Order to Protect Nursing Home Residents and Staff
MDHHS Issues Order to Protect Nursing Home Residents and Staff from COVID-19
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2020
Contact: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112
Order requires testing and reporting; additional efforts address accuracy of nursing facility data, staffing, infection control practices
LANSING, MICH. To help protect residents and staff at nursing facilities from COVID-19, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon today issued an Order requiring regular testing and timely and accurate reporting of cases, deaths, personal protective equipment and staffing shortages.
“We took the time to make today’s report as accurate as possible,” Gordon said. “And now we’re doing everything in our power to protect nursing facility residents through mandatory testing, support for adequate staffing, and new efforts at infection control.”
“As we continue working to protect Michigan families from the spread of COVID-19 and lower the chance of a second wave, we must do everything we can to protect our most vulnerable Michiganders and those frontline workers who care for them,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “Continuous testing and proper staffing are crucial to that effort. As we continue to safely reopen sectors of our economy, Director Gordon and I will keep working with our partners in health care to ensure protections for our most vulnerable populations and for the brave men and women on the front lines fighting this virus.”
The Order requires nursing facilities to conduct the following COVID-19 testing for residents and staff:
- Initial testing of all residents and staff.
- Testing of all new or returning residents during intake unless tested within 72 hours of intake.
- Testing of any resident or staff member with symptoms or suspected exposure.
- Weekly testing of all previously negative residents and staff in facilities with any positive cases among residents or staff, until 14 days after the last new positive result.
- Weekly testing of all staff in regions of medium or higher risk on the MI Safe Start Map.
- Testing of all staff in Regions 1 through 5 and 7, at least once between the date of this order and July 3, 2020.
“We are appreciative that the governor continues to work with us and adopt our recommendations,” said State Rep. Leslie Love who leads the House Democratic Nursing Home Hub Taskforce. “As she continues to refine guidelines and protections for the safety of nursing home residents and staff, this will go a long way to preventing the spread of COVID-19 among our most vulnerable.”
“AARP strongly supports the testing mandate in Michigan nursing homes,” said Paula D. Cunningham, AARP state director. “The sad fate of so many older adults in long-term care facilities is both heartbreaking and infuriating. Setting up and implementing a comprehensive plan for testing of staff and residents is among the essential steps necessary to overturn this abject tragedy.”
Nursing facilities are required to submit plans for testing by June 22 and to implement those plans by June 29. Facility staff who are not permitted to come to work because they test positive for COVID-19 are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. The Unemployment Insurance Agency is committed to working with nursing facilities throughout the process of filing for unemployment on behalf of their employees.
MDHHS also announced several additional efforts to protect nursing facility residents:
- Direct support for rapid response staff who can provide immediate support to long-term care facilities facing urgent staffing shortages due to COVID. Beginning in Southeast and West Michigan, the Department will help to make available, for up to 14 days, registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, personal care aides, and other key staff.
- Coordination with Doctors Without Borders to help identify long-term care facilities in need of assistance with their infection prevention and control practices. Doctors Without Borders is sending mobile teams to assess facility practices and provide tailored recommendations for improvement.
- Improved targeting of the Infection Prevention Resource and Assessment Team (IPRAT), which is helping nursing facilities complete the CDC Infection Control and Assessment Response Tool. More than 300 have completed the tool to date. IPRAT will now target its support to Regional Hubs and other facilities based on data from LARA. At the same time the Department will begin decommissioning some regional hubs due to reduced demand.
Additional information about these efforts is available on the MDHHS website.
In addition to the measures above, MDHHS is announcing the results of its comprehensive effort to validate nursing facility data on COVID-related cases and deaths. As of June 14, there have been 7,163 cases and 1,947 deaths among patients in nursing facilities with 4,919 patients recovered or recovering. In addition, there have been 3,133 cases and 20 deaths among staff. This represents cumulative data recorded since Jan. 1. These numbers reflect an extensive data validation effort led by DHHS, involving outreach to each of the state’s nursing facilities to confirm key data fields, ensure that facilities were aware of state and federal reporting expectations, and troubleshoot barriers to reporting.
The Emergency Order reiterates reporting requirements and formally establishes penalties for non-compliance to ensure timely and accurate data reporting. Facilities that do not report required data are subject to a $1,000 fine for each violation or for each day that a violation continues. Any violation of the order by a facility regulated by LARA shall be referred to the agency for determination whether to pursue additional enforcement action as it deems appropriate.
Gov. Whitmer today also signed Executive Order 2020-123, which extends her previous order protecting staff and residents in long-term care facilities from the spread of COVID-19, including by ensuring that employees who stay home when exhibiting symptoms are protected from adverse action. The order establishes a system of regional hubs for care of COVID-19-affected residents, and requires nursing homes to take special precautions when a resident exhibits symptoms of COVID-19. The governor’s order extends through July 12, 2020.
Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
from COVID-19
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2020
Contact: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112
Order requires testing and reporting; additional efforts address accuracy of nursing facility data, staffing, infection control practices
LANSING, MICH. To help protect residents and staff at nursing facilities from COVID-19, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon today issued an Order requiring regular testing and timely and accurate reporting of cases, deaths, personal protective equipment and staffing shortages.
“We took the time to make today’s report as accurate as possible,” Gordon said. “And now we’re doing everything in our power to protect nursing facility residents through mandatory testing, support for adequate staffing, and new efforts at infection control.”
“As we continue working to protect Michigan families from the spread of COVID-19 and lower the chance of a second wave, we must do everything we can to protect our most vulnerable Michiganders and those frontline workers who care for them,” said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. “Continuous testing and proper staffing are crucial to that effort. As we continue to safely reopen sectors of our economy, Director Gordon and I will keep working with our partners in health care to ensure protections for our most vulnerable populations and for the brave men and women on the front lines fighting this virus.”
The Order requires nursing facilities to conduct the following COVID-19 testing for residents and staff:
- Initial testing of all residents and staff.
- Testing of all new or returning residents during intake unless tested within 72 hours of intake.
- Testing of any resident or staff member with symptoms or suspected exposure.
- Weekly testing of all previously negative residents and staff in facilities with any positive cases among residents or staff, until 14 days after the last new positive result.
- Weekly testing of all staff in regions of medium or higher risk on the MI Safe Start Map.
- Testing of all staff in Regions 1 through 5 and 7, at least once between the date of this order and July 3, 2020.
“We are appreciative that the governor continues to work with us and adopt our recommendations,” said State Rep. Leslie Love who leads the House Democratic Nursing Home Hub Taskforce. “As she continues to refine guidelines and protections for the safety of nursing home residents and staff, this will go a long way to preventing the spread of COVID-19 among our most vulnerable.”
“AARP strongly supports the testing mandate in Michigan nursing homes,” said Paula D. Cunningham, AARP state director. “The sad fate of so many older adults in long-term care facilities is both heartbreaking and infuriating. Setting up and implementing a comprehensive plan for testing of staff and residents is among the essential steps necessary to overturn this abject tragedy.”
Nursing facilities are required to submit plans for testing by June 22 and to implement those plans by June 29. Facility staff who are not permitted to come to work because they test positive for COVID-19 are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Compensation. The Unemployment Insurance Agency is committed to working with nursing facilities throughout the process of filing for unemployment on behalf of their employees.
MDHHS also announced several additional efforts to protect nursing facility residents:
- Direct support for rapid response staff who can provide immediate support to long-term care facilities facing urgent staffing shortages due to COVID. Beginning in Southeast and West Michigan, the Department will help to make available, for up to 14 days, registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, personal care aides, and other key staff.
- Coordination with Doctors Without Borders to help identify long-term care facilities in need of assistance with their infection prevention and control practices. Doctors Without Borders is sending mobile teams to assess facility practices and provide tailored recommendations for improvement.
- Improved targeting of the Infection Prevention Resource and Assessment Team (IPRAT), which is helping nursing facilities complete the CDC Infection Control and Assessment Response Tool. More than 300 have completed the tool to date. IPRAT will now target its support to Regional Hubs and other facilities based on data from LARA. At the same time the Department will begin decommissioning some regional hubs due to reduced demand.
Additional information about these efforts is available on the MDHHS website.
In addition to the measures above, MDHHS is announcing the results of its comprehensive effort to validate nursing facility data on COVID-related cases and deaths. As of June 14, there have been 7,163 cases and 1,947 deaths among patients in nursing facilities with 4,919 patients recovered or recovering. In addition, there have been 3,133 cases and 20 deaths among staff. This represents cumulative data recorded since Jan. 1. These numbers reflect an extensive data validation effort led by DHHS, involving outreach to each of the state’s nursing facilities to confirm key data fields, ensure that facilities were aware of state and federal reporting expectations, and troubleshoot barriers to reporting.
The Emergency Order reiterates reporting requirements and formally establishes penalties for non-compliance to ensure timely and accurate data reporting. Facilities that do not report required data are subject to a $1,000 fine for each violation or for each day that a violation continues. Any violation of the order by a facility regulated by LARA shall be referred to the agency for determination whether to pursue additional enforcement action as it deems appropriate.
Gov. Whitmer today also signed Executive Order 2020-123, which extends her previous order protecting staff and residents in long-term care facilities from the spread of COVID-19, including by ensuring that employees who stay home when exhibiting symptoms are protected from adverse action. The order establishes a system of regional hubs for care of COVID-19-affected residents, and requires nursing homes to take special precautions when a resident exhibits symptoms of COVID-19. The governor’s order extends through July 12, 2020.
Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
$32 million Grants For Restaurants, Retailers, And Personal Services
MEDIA ADVISORY – Coulter: $32 million Grants For Restaurants, Retailers, And Personal Services
Coulter: $32 million grants for restaurants, retailers, and personal services
Sean Carlson, Deputy County Executive Janet Jackson, County Commissioner Talisa Norton, Co-owner of All Pro Color
Oakland County Executive David Coulter is holding a news conference to announce $32 million in Oakland Together Economic Recovery Grants for restaurants, retailers, and personal services businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
22 Michigan Communities Receiving Nearly $1 Million in Grants
22 Michigan Communities Receiving Nearly $1 Million in Grants for Small Businesses’ COVID-19 Recovery Efforts
Twenty-two communities around Michigan have been awarded a total of $993,984 in grants aimed at supporting the COVID-19 economic recovery efforts of small local businesses throughout the state, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced today. The grants are being awarded through an expansion of MEDC’s Match on Main program. A total of 299 small businesses around Michigan are receiving assistance through the program.
“Michigan’s small businesses and traditional downtowns are the heart of our communities, and by providing communities with resources to engage in economic recovery efforts we can help ensure our downtowns not only recover, but thrive,” said MEDC CEO Mark A. Burton. “The Match on Main grants will help Michigan’s downtown businesses recover from the loss of revenue as a result of the COVID-19 virus and support workers they employ in these communities.”
In May, MEDC announced that its existing Match on Main program was being expanded to provide access to more communities and refocusing resources on recovery efforts of existing businesses, rather than helping open new businesses. Community-based organizations such as downtown development authorities could apply for grant funding through Match on Main to then make local grants to small businesses located within their districts that have realized a significant financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Match on Main–COVID-19 Response program was opened up to all 286 engaged and certified Redevelopment Ready Communities across the state of Michigan, in addition to the Michigan Main Street communities that traditionally participate in the program. The expanded program also waived the matching requirement for the small business applicant which is required to receive funding under the traditional Match on Main program.
“We are absolutely thrilled that MMDC’s Match on Main application on behalf of the City of Mt. Pleasant was approved and that many of our downtown businesses will be receiving critical financial support as they recover from the COVID-19 shutdown,” said Middle Michigan Development Corporation President and CEO James McBryde. “These funds will help ensure that downtown Mt. Pleasant will continue to be a vibrant place for residents, students and visitors to enjoy”
The local unit of government, downtown development authority, Main Street organization or other economic development organization that represents a traditional commercial district including a downtown, neighborhood commercial district, or an area planned and zoned for concentrated commercial development was eligible to apply for up to $50,000. The minimum contribution that was able to be administered to any one business must be at least $2,000, with a maximum of $10,000. Applicants determined which businesses were selected for inclusion in the application for support and at what desired grant amounts. The application window was May 13, 2020 through May 29, 2020.
2020 Match on Main grant winners (the full list of businesses receiving support can be found here: https://www.miplace.org/match-on-main/):
|
Applicant |
Number of businesses assisted | Amount |
|
Main Street Calumet |
9 |
$50,000 |
|
City of Marquette |
15 |
$50,000 |
| City of Grayling | 12 | $42,000 |
| Traverse City DDA | 18 | $50,000 |
|
Charlevoix Main Street DDA |
10 |
$50,000 |
| Sault Ste Marie DDA | 25 | $50,000 |
| Middle Michigan Development Corporation – City of Mt. Pleasant | 22 | $48,000 |
| Rogers City | 9 | $27,000 |
| City of Zeeland | 10 | $50,000 |
| Lake Odessa DDA | 8 | $50,000 |
| City of Big Rapids | 7 | $45,000 |
| Bay Future – City of Bay City | 16 | $50,000 |
| Lapeer DDA | 8 | $41,000 |
| St. Johns Principal Shopping District | 20 | $50,000 |
| Village of Paw Paw | 12 | $50,000 |
| Ypsilanti DDA | 18 | $45,000 |
| Coldwater DDA | 9 | $35,000 |
| Adrian DDA | 22 | $49,984 |
| Grandmont Rosedale Association | 10 | $50,000 |
| Lake Orion DDA | 6 | $15,000 |
| Owosso Main Street | 23 | $46,000 |
| Downtown Lansing Inc. | 10 | $50,000 |
| TOTALS | 299 | $993,984 |
On June 4, MEDC announced that more than 100 small businesses around Michigan were utilizing its MI Local Biz crowdfunding program throughout the month of June. MEDC will provide a total of $500,000 in matching grants to help the businesses as they work to recover from the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Visit https://www.patronicity.com/milocalbiz for a list of all the businesses running campaigns through the program, as well as a map showing the locations of them throughout the state.
MEDC has also partnered with Reopen Main Street to compile a variety of recovery resources into one easy-to-use website. The new website includes reopening strategies, ideas, hints and tips for businesses, business districts and organizations.
To learn more about MEDC’s COVID-19 response programs and the impact they are having on economic recovery efforts, visit michiganbusiness.org/covid19response. Other resources for economic reopening efforts as well as businesses across Michigan struggling with economic losses as a result of the COVID-19 virus can be found online at michiganbusiness.org/covid19. The MEDC has also developed a FAQ for Michigan businesses and communities at michiganbusiness.org/covid19-faq.
Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.
Governor Requests Major Disaster Declaration for Mid-Michigan Counties
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 15, 2020 Media Contact: [email protected] Governor Whitmer Requests Major Disaster Declaration for Mid-Michigan Counties Impacted by Flooding LANSING, Mich. — Governor Gretchen Whitmer today sent a letter to President Trump requesting a major disaster declaration in response to the catastrophic flooding and dam failures last month in Arenac, Gladwin, Iosco, Midland and Saginaw counties. “Last month’s flooding and dam failures upended the lives of thousands of Michigan families and business owners at a time when we were just beginning to reopen our economy following weeks of working to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” Governor Whitmer said. “This natural disaster, coupled with a global health pandemic, has created enormous stress and emotional trauma for these residents, and they need the federal government’s help to begin rebuilding their lives.” Last month, Governor Whitmer declared a State of Emergency for the counties affected by the dam failures and requested and received a federal Emergency Declaration for Midland and Gladwin counties, which unlocked limited federal assistance. On May 27, 2020, the governor directed the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) launch an investigation into what caused the Edenville and Sanford dams to fail. The flooding has resulted in more than $190 million in losses for residents and over $55 million in immediate response costs and damages to public buildings and infrastructure. “This 500-year disaster has impacted everyone from homeowners and renters to businesses and farmers throughout mid-Michigan, and I urge the federal government to provide the resources necessary to ensure they don’t suffer financial hardships for years as they attempt to repair and restore their damaged homes and businesses,” Governor Whitmer said. “We will get through this together and will emerge stronger on the other side.” The flooding was caused by an area of low pressure stalled across the Great Lakes region, bringing a prolonged period of rainfall to Michigan from May 17 to May 19. Persistent steady rain resulted in excessive two-day rainfall totals reaching record levels at some locations. The record flood levels along the Tittabawassee River were greatly exacerbated due to extra water from two catastrophic dam failures of the Edenville and Sanford dams. High water levels of the Edenville Dam Impoundment likely contributed to failure of the earthen embankment at the east side of the dam. The sudden release of water through the breach in the dam then flowed downstream into Sanford Lake. The resulting rapid rise in Sanford Lake caused the earthen embankments of the Sanford Dam to be breached. To view the governor’s letter, click the link below: |