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MARQUETTE -- Northern Michigan University announced on Wednesday that it is lifting some of its COVID-19 restrictions.
In a letter to students, faculty and staff, NMU interim President Kerri Schuiling noted that COVID-19 cases in Marquette County continue to decrease, dropping 80% from the height of the omicron surge in January, according to the Marquette County Health Department.
MCHD also reported that hospitalizations are down 39% over the previous seven days and testing positivity decreased 27% in that same time period, she said.
"Northern's numbers, both in overall reported cases and those identified in our weekly surveillance testing, are lower as well," Schuiling wrote. "Although the downward trend continues, we are keeping the KN95 (N95, KF94) mask requirement in place and will evaluate that on a weekly basis."
However, effective immediately, Northern changed its current pandemic protocols, with individuals allowed to remove their masks during the following situations:
≤ Masks can be removed during physical activity periods in NMU's recreational sports and training areas. This includes club and intramural sports practices and competitions.
≤ Masks can be removed during performance periods for dance, music and theater activities. However, they must be worn at all other times when inside an NMU facility except for the actual physical sports/recreational or performance activity.
≤ Masks can be removed in a shared office or work space as long as all parties of the shared space agree and there is adequate social distance between individual work areas. Individuals in shared work spaces must remask when visitors, clients or colleagues enter the space, regardless of who the person is coming to see.
≤ Departments can resume holding in-person meetings and events as long as everyone attending is properly masked and the room is large enough to allow adequate social distancing.
≤ Student organizations can resume holding indoor in-person events on campus as long as everyone attending is properly masked and the event site is large enough to allow adequate social distancing. Events that anticipate large attendance should work with the NMU COVID Response Team, which can be reached at SafeOnCampus@nmu.edu, to develop an approved safety plan.
≤ Commencement will be in person on April 30 at the Superior Dome unless COVID-19 trends significantly worsen. Ceremony details will be posted at nmu.edu/commencement as they are made final.
NMU's full list of current pandemic protocols are available on the SafeOnCampus website at https://nmu.edu/safe-on-campus/.
Schuiling also addressed surveillance testing.
"We continue to experience delays in the return of test results from the lab we are using for Northern's weekly surveillance testing," Schuiling wrote. "We are told the delays are due to labs being overwhelmed and understaffed. We continue to work with the company to improve the turnaround time for results."
Schuiling noted she has been asked why NMU continues to perform testing in light of the delays.
"Surveillance testing does help with identification of asymptomatic individuals with COVID, however not in a way that greatly aids isolation purposes, regardless of experiencing delays," she said. "However, testing provides quantitative data to help the university understand prevalence of COVID on campus, which helps us evaluate our protocols and determine if changes can be made."
Schuiling said anyone who becomes symptomatic between testing and receiving results should contact their health care professional, the NMU Health Center at 906-227-2355 or an area testing site for testing with more immediate results.
She stressed that people should remember that results from NMU's surveillance test will be emailed to them directly from PatientXchange at info@frhc.com. A Vielmetti Health Center medical staffer will call anyone who tests positive for COVID-19.
As of Wednesday, there were 192 total COVID-19 cases at NMU for the winter semester, according to the reporting dashboard at https://nmu.edu/safe-on-campus/dashboard. For the fall semester, there were 137 cases.
Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.