Both children and staff are required to wear face coverings while at child-care centers and day camps, according to a new executive order signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday.
The order requires all staff and children ages 2 and up to wear a face covering on a school bus or other transportation. It also requires staff and children ages 4 and up to wear a face covering in all indoor common spaces. Staff and children ages 12 and up are required to wear a face covering in classrooms, homes, cabins, or other indoor small-group settings.
“Child-care workers have been on the front lines of this crisis and have worked tirelessly to provide a safe place for our children and families during this time,” Whitmer said in a statement. “COVID-19 is still a very real threat to Michiganders of all ages, and we must continue to stay vigilant and use every tool at our disposal to protect ourselves and each other.”
Child-care centers and day camps located in a region that is in Phase 5 of the MI Safe Start Plan are not required to implement mask-wearing, but are strongly encouraged. No area of Michigan is currently in Phase 5.
Whitmer allowed day camps to reopen on June 8. Overnight camps were allowed to begin meet on June 15.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the chief medical executive and chief deputy of health for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement that masks “continue to be one of the best way to contain the spread of COVID-19.”
“Be a role model for your children and demonstrate the importance of wearing a mask. Have your child practice properly wearing a mask – over their nose, mouth and chin – while they are at home so they are comfortable with it in public,” Khaldun said. “It will take all of us, of all ages, doing our part to continue slowing the spread of this disease and to protect our families and communities.”
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Jordyn Pair is a reporter at The Michigan Star and Star News Digital Media. Follow her on Twitter at @JordynPair.Email her at [email protected].
Photo “Child with Face Mask” by www.vperemen.com. CC BY-SA 4.0.
