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David Jesse
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Kristen Jordan Shamus
| Detroit Free Press
The Michigan sports department is closing for two weeks due to confirmed cases of variant B.1.1.7 COVID-19, a department spokesman confirmed to Free Press on Saturday night.
The shutdown will affect all sports, including those currently in season, such as men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball (which was moved from the fall and ice hockey. The break will start immediately.
Michigan Daily student journalists were the first to report.
No changes being made to any other university operations.
“It is our understanding that the state has not recommended changes other than athletics,” university spokesman Rick Fitzgerald told the Free Press.
There are now five confirmed cases with B.1.1.7, the highly contagious COVID-19 variant, in Washtenaw County. The outbreak dates back to a student athlete, the sources said.
“Canceling competitions is never something we want to do, but with so many unknowns about this variant of COVID-19, we must do everything we can to minimize the spread among student-athletes, coaches, staff and to student-athletes from other schools” , said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel.
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Public health officials at the university are working closely with the Washtenaw County Department of Health and the Michigan Department of Human Health Services on additional mitigation strategies, the sports department said in a press release.
“The university will be carefully considering additional mitigation measures. There are many unknowns that remain under investigation by UM, state and local public health officials,” said the school statement. “No determination has been made on how the break could affect games scheduled after February 7.
The new variant of the coronavirus is more easily transmitted and can lead to more positive cases, the health department said.
“We are watching this situation as closely as possible,” said Dr. Juan Luis Marquez, medical director of the Washtenaw County Department of Health. “And we ask everyone to continue to do everything they can to prevent transmission – mask, distance, avoid crowds or meetings, clean their hands frequently and carefully follow isolation or quarantine guidelines.”
The county is asking people who visited Meijer from 9 am to 10 am and Briarwood Mall from 1 pm to 2 pm last Sunday to immediately test for the virus.
The state’s zero patient had a negative coronavirus test two days before she traveled to the United States on January 3, said Susan Ringler Cerniglia, a spokeswoman for the Washtenaw County Health Department.
LAST WEEK: Washtenaw County woman is the first known case of coronavirus variant in Michigan
The woman also tested negative for the virus on January 4 and January 6. She tested positive for the coronavirus on January 8 and started isolation on that date.
Most of the other seven people who have contracted the virus since they had close contact with the woman live in connected families, said Ringler Cerniglia, and are also quarantined.
Variant B.1.1.7 is no longer deadly and is unlikely to make people more seriously ill than other variants of the coronavirus. But it is 1.5 times more transmissible, which means that it spreads about 50% faster than other strains of the virus that circulate in Michigan.
On Friday night, the sports department reported that it had 22 positive cases for COVID-19 during the week of January 16 to January 22.
This is not the first time that UM has had problems with COVID-19. The football team ended its season shortly after an outbreak of COVID-19. The stoppage included the cancellation of the Ohio state rivalry game.
The winter semester for students started on Monday, however, most students are not on campus. The university announced in November that it would cancel all housing contracts for the winter semester and allow only a few students on campus.
Those who return to campus will face repression from the university over public health-related behaviors, the school said at the time.
“Students returning to campus in the winter will find a rigid and non-tolerant approach to enforcing policies related to COVID-19,” said the university in its announcement. “Depending on the violation, penalties will include automatic probation, termination of the university housing contract and removal of university recognition for student organizations that host or participate in social gatherings.”
Face-to-face classes will be limited to those most effectively taught in person or required for licensing, the university said.
The free COVID-19 trial will be available from 12 noon to 5 pm on Sunday at Pioneer High School, 601 W. Stadium Blvd, Ann Arbor. Pre-registration is available, but it is not mandatory. Details: https://www.washtenaw.org/3158/Testing.
Contact Orion Sang at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more about Michigan Wolverines and subscribe to our Wolverines newsletter. The Free Press started a new digital signature model. See how you can get access to our most exclusive Michigan Wolverines content.