Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Friday that 4 million free masks are being provided to Michigan residents who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 through a partnership involving the state, Ford Motor Company and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (Photo from Michigan Executive Office of the Governor)

MARQUETTE — Four million free masks are being provided to Michigan residents who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 through a partnership involving the state, Ford Motor Company and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Friday.

Low-income residents, seniors, schools and homeless shelters will benefit from the MI Mask Aid partnership, which is part of the Mask Up Michigan campaign.

“Michigan needs to continue to ‘mask up’ to protect us all from COVID-19,” Whitmer said in a statement. “Vulnerable populations may have difficulties buying masks and our schools need face coverings to keep students, staff and community members safe.”

The project is in partnership with Whitmer’s Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities chaired by Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II.

“The irony of this pandemic that requires physical distancing is that it reveals how connected we truly are, how much we rely on one another every day,” Gilchrist said in a statement.

“I’m thankful for our partners at Ford, FEMA and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for coming together in a big way to ensure that our communities, particularly those hardest hit, have what they need to get through these tough times.

“By delivering 4 million masks at no cost to Michiganders, we can provide a proven, lifesaving device to countless residents as they go back to work, school and define new ways of living during this pandemic.”

The free masks include 1.5 million from FEMA that the state has already sent to organizations, which include local community action agencies serving low-income residents, MDHHS offices, area agencies on aging, homeless shelters and Native American tribes.

Another 1 million face coverings from FEMA and 1.5 million from Ford will go to low-income schools, the city of Detroit, federally qualified health centers, some COVID-19 testing sites and to many of the organizations listed above to reach vulnerable populations, including minority residents who have been affected by the public health crisis as a result of racism.

“Masks are proven to reduce a person’s chance of spreading COVID-19 by about 70%,” MDHHS Director Robert Gordon said in a statement. “There’s also growing evidence that masks can protect the wearer’s life by reducing the severity of COVID if they get it.

Gordon said it is “critically important” to make sure communities most impacted by COVID-19 have greater access to masks at no cost.

Ford’s involvement makes MI Mask Aid a public-private partnership that can provide even more free masks.

“We also will continue to look for ways to address urgent needs of our communities by leveraging our partnerships through the Ford Motor Company Fund,” Ford Motor Company president and CEO Jim Hackett said in a statement.

Anyone interested in receiving a free mask can find a distribution location by calling the COVID-19 Hotline at 888-535-6136 or looking up their local Community Action Agency online.

NMU releases

COVID numbers

Northern Michigan University has released the latest COVID-19 numbers on its reporting dashboard at https://nmu.edu/safe-on-campus/.

As of Friday afternoon, cumulative positives involved three employees, seven off-campus students and six on-campus students. Fifteen of those positive cases were discovered from tests performed on campus.

A total of 6,328 tests have been completed, with 3,152 results returned as of Friday afternoon.

NMU has a total of 150 beds for its quarantine and isolation capacities, with 20 occupied.

Dome to open to students

NMU will open its Superior Dome to students when classes begin Monday. Free community access to walk and jog in that facility, as well as the Berry Events Center, will be postponed until Oct. 1.

“The October date is tentative, depending on the COVID-19 situation at that time,” said Carl Bammert, associate athletic director-facilities, in an announcement. “The university decided not to open those buildings fully right now, but to do it slowly instead to reduce any potential risk to community members in more vulnerable populations.”

Lawsuit arguments

to start Tuesday

Oral arguments will begin at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the lawsuit Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed against U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos for what her office called the department’s “unlawful attempt” to siphon pandemic relief funds away from K-12 public schools.

The lawsuit — announced July 7 and amended on July 17, and supported with a comment letter submitted by the coalition of state attorneys general on July 31 — argues that the rule is unlawful and unconstitutional, and ignores the severe harm the rule imposes on states and school districts, and their students and teachers.

As a result of the interim final rule, at least $16 million in Michigan alone would be diverted from public schools to private institutions in violation of the requirements established by Congress, the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act was adopted by Congress and signed into law in late March. Among other things, it allocates $30.75 billion for K-12 schools and higher education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A portion — approximately $13.2 billion — is distributed to state education agencies, such as the Michigan Department of Education, which gets nearly $390 million. SEAs then allocate that money to local education agencies, which subsequently distribute money to individual schools.

CARES Act money is designed to provide support to schools with low-income students, as it is to be allocated based on the amount of Title I funding each state and school district received in the most recent fiscal year.

The hearing will be before Judge James Donato of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Bingo rules clarified

The Michigan Bureau of State Lottery has issued a clarification that under Executive Order 2020-160, bingos held outside. including parking lot bingo, are allowed as long as they comply with the social distancing and mask requirements required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and defined in current executive orders.

The prohibition of indoor bingo and limitations on outdoor bingo was clarified in a letter mailed to bingo licensees dated this past Tuesday.

Weekly bingo licensees holding outdoor bingo on the same property during the same time as indicated on their license are not required to apply for an additional license. Holding bingo at another outdoor location or time may be done under a special bingo license.

Additional questions regarding outdoor bingo can be directed to an inspector.

For information may be obtained by calling 517-335-5780.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net