Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/tag/masks/)
After previously stating that the COVID-19 vaccine and masks would not be required this fall, Michigan State University has decided to take a different course of action. With the university now requiring the vaccine and masks to attend classes in the fall, students have had a mixed response to the news.
Flu season is nearing its end, but was it ever really here? Sparrow Doctor Paul Entler noticed that this year’s flu season has been significantly less aggressive. “We had one case in the hospital,” he said. “Being vigilant about washing your hands and those masks, I think really prevented portals of entry of viruses that normally would be there.” Safety protocols that have been enforced over the last year have been productive in fighting against the flu and other illness, not just COVID-19.
On this edition of Focal Point, a look at the recently announced changes to the Spring Semester and how MSU plans to keep students healthy while slowly reopening. Due to the pandemic, one East Lansing business is forced to close its doors, and graduating students struggle to find jobs. Big Ten football is back, but two MSU linebackers will not take the field after being arrested in September. Other varsity sports will not return at all after the Athletic Director announced swimming and diving have been cut. Those stories and more on Focal Point.
On this edition of Focal Point, Vice President Mike Pence rallies in Grand Rapids while local candidates adjust to campaigning during a pandemic. Local businesses also adapt to stay open. We visit a cider mill, a local bar, and the East Lansing Farmer’s Market to see how they are opening safely. One East Lansing bookstore is still in business because of support from the community. All those stories and more on Focal Point.
Zoe Fritz saw customers being thrown out of the store for refusing to wear masks. “It’s been really crazy! You have the people who throw fits that have had to been put out of the mall,” Fritz said. “It’s frustrating to deal with people because they feel like ‘why do I have to do this’.”
Twelve Oaks Mall opened up May 28 after closing because of COVID-19. The mall then updated its rules for shoppers on July 13 from allowing the stores to choose whether they allowed masks, to requiring masks in every store.
During the citizen comments portion of the July 6 Northville City Council meeting, Mayor Brian Turnbull figured he knew what Doris Booth was going to ask about. Nick MaizMayor Turnbull running the July 6 meeting by following the agenda for the day. “I think I know what Doris Booth is going to talk about,” Turnbull said. “Doris, I think you would like to talk about pickleball.”
The July 6 meeting began, as it always does, with citizen comments. And Booth was ready for her turn.
High school proms all over the state have been canceled because of COVID-19, meaning seniors are missing out on one of the last special nights they had left with all of their childhood friends. But a Lansing business is making it their priority to give them that night back — eventually. Pierre’s Bridal, Prom and Tuxedo is used to seeing its upstairs prom section full of high school girls looking for that special dress from March to June. But now the store is empty and temporarily shut down. Co-owner Sarah Samson got the idea to still hold a prom somewhere, just a little later than most high schools had originally scheduled, for seniors in the Mid-Michigan area.