WESTLAND, Mich. (WWJ) -- Michigan students are returning to the classroom all across the state as schools begin the new academic year, but Gov. Gretchen Whitmer continues to say her administration is not contemplating issuing a statewide mask mandate in schools at this time.
Though Whitmer and state health officials have been urging local governments and school districts to issue their own mandates for students to mask up this fall, per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the governor has stayed away from a broad mandate.
She said Wednesday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Westland Community Health Center they’re “not debating” it. WWJ’s Jon Hewett asked Whitmer about the pressure that puts on local school administrators.
“We’ve all felt a lot of pressure over the course of the last year and a half. I’ve taken a lot of heat,” Whitmer said. “We’re continuing to follow the science. But right now there are tools and these local electants are the closest to the parents and to the students, and I think it’s appropriate that they move forward.”
Whitmer’s remarks come on the same day the state announced more than 4,400 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across Michigan since Monday. State health officials reported 54 new deaths from the virus in that time span and said more than 1,200 adults were currently hospitalized, while 20 children were receiving hospital care.
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Many school districts in metro Detroit, including all of Oakland and Wayne County’s schools, are beginning the school year under masking orders. Statewide, about 60% of schools are requiring students and staff to wear masks.
“We’re not debating use of broad mandates at this time. A year and a half ago when this all began, we didn’t know a whole lot about COVID-19, much less that a mask was going to be the most important tool that we have or that vaccines would be developed so quickly and be so effective,” Whitmer said. “We now have tools. Every one of us makes use of these tools. We will get through this and we can keep our kids in school and our economy re-engaged.”
Several school districts across the state, including Howell Community Schools in Livingston County, are already reporting outbreaks in schools.
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