MARQUETTE — The Marquette County Health Department is detailing the reasons behind why it rescinded its Sept. 22 order that requires Marquette County students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade to wear masks in school.

The rescinding of the order, signed by MCHD health officer Jerry Messana, went into effect on Wednesday.

In a public service announcement issued by MCHD, the department said the arrival of omicron and COVID-19 vaccinations adjusted the metrics people should use to gauge public health mitigation efforts away from cases and incidence rates to goals created by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

Those goals are preventing deaths and severe outcomes, protecting health care capacity and keeping vital infrastructure functioning.

MCHD listed these changes supporting the rescinding of the mask order:

≤ Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccines for youngsters ages 5 to 11 were approved for emergency use on Oct. 29.

≤ Enough time has passed since the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old to allow those who wanted to be vaccinated to complete the series.

≤ Over the last several weeks, there has been no waiting list for the vaccinations for this age group, with appointments available within a week on average.

≤ The relationship between cases and hospitalizations and death now is “markedly different, especially for the vaccinated.”

MCHD, along with MDHHS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommend that masks continue to be worn in settings with students in pre-kindergarten through high school as well as all public and crowded spaces.

The agencies indicated that preventive measures, which include physical distancing, mask wearing, hand hygiene and other mitigation strategies, reduce the spread and impact of COVID-19.

They also advocate testing, quarantine and isolation as well as getting vaccinated.

“MCHD, along with your community leaders whose duty it is to protect Marquette County, will consider additional recommendations and possible orders if the health care capacity or vital infrastructure is threatening collapse,” MCHD officials said in a statement.

Marquette Area Public Schools interim Superintendent Zack Sedgwick said the school district will comply with the rescinding of the mask mandate.

However, he said in an email, “MAPS strongly recommends masks for all students and staff.”

Other local school districts already had made recent major changes, with Ishpeming Public Schools and Gwinn Area Community Schools switching temporarily to remote learning for this week.

LMAS updates numbers

The Luce-Mackinac-Alger-Schoolcraft District Health Department provided an update on Facebook regarding recent cases in its four-county area.

It reported that between Friday and Monday, there were 113 cases of COVID-19 in its region, but no additional deaths. A total of 22% of LMAS cases and 20% of its deaths since March 2020 have occurred in January alone.

“We urge you to get vaccinated — the vaccines and boosters continue to do a very good job keeping people from becoming seriously ill, being hospitalized and from dying,” the health department said in its post. “Add in protecting children under 5, and you have four excellent reasons to get vaccinated.”

It asks people to wear a mask in public spaces or crowded indoor locations, indicating that a multilayer, well-fitting mask, worn properly and consistently, plays an important role in reducing the spread of the omicron variant.

“This only works, though, if the majority of people implement this simple public health disease prevention practice,” health department officials said.

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