Two schools move to allonline due to quarantine

154 students, staff, nurse isolating

Shepherd School District announced Thursday morning that its high and middle schools would return to fully online learning starting today and going to April 29.

In making the decision, the district announced that it currently has 154 students and staff — including the entire office staff of the middle school office and its school nurse — are currently quarantined.

The district is also curtailing sports. Competitions planned through the weekend will continue, however starting Monday nothing will happen until the school board can put together a plan.

The Mt. Pleasant area continues to have the fastest-growing outbreak of COVID-19, according to a New York Times dashboard. That growth is based on the week-to-week increase in new cases and weighted by population.

As of Thursday morning, the Mt. Pleasant area continued to have the ninth worst overall COVID-19 outbreak in the nation, according to the New York Times.

There are two things different about this outbreak than previous ones. It is being driven by cases among youth — including younger kids — and much of it appears to involve a variant of the SARS-COV-2 virus.

That strain, called B.1.1.7, is believed to have originated in the United Kingdom. It is more

transmissible than the older strain, and some early evidence points to that it might also cause more serious disease.

Cases increased in the 20-49 age group across the six counties of the Central Michigan District Health Department by 377, according the health department’s latest data and statistics sheet. That age group includes 46.2 of all cases across the six CMDHD counties: Isabella, Clare, Roscommon, Arenac, Osceola and Gladwin.

During the same week, cases increased among the 10-19 age group by 122. Only the 162 new cases in the 50-74 age group was higher.

An additional 52 cases were reported in Isabella County on Thursday, bringing it cumulative total to 4,228, with 77 deaths.

Central Michigan University, which has accounted for approximately 20 percent of Isabella County’s cases since mid-march, reported an additional nine cases on its dashboard. The university’s seven-day average of new cases is 16.

An additional 20 cases were reported in Clare County on Thursday, bringing its cumulative total to 1,578, with 68 deaths. An additional 15 confirmed cases were reported in Gratiot County on Thursday, bringing its cumulative total to 2,668, with 102 deaths.

Elsewhere in mid-michigan, one new death was reported, with new and cumulative cases and deaths as follows from over the weekend:

• In Gladwin County, an additional 28 new confirmed cases were reported for a cumulative total of 1,506, with 40 deaths;

• In Mecosta County, an additional 42 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 2,373, with 24 deaths;

• In Midland County, an additional 79 new cases for a cumulative total of 5,364, with 62 deaths; and,

• In Montcalm County, one death was reported for a total of 90, and an additional 72 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 3,978.

Statewide, 73 new deaths were reported for a total of 16,400 and another 7,819 cases were reported for a cumulative total of 723,297.