EAST LANSING – With the Big Ten Tournament beginning today and Saint Patrick’s Day just around the corner, community leaders from the City of East Lansing, Ingham County Health Department (ICHD) and Michigan State University (MSU) are partnering once more to urge those living in the East Lansing community to continue with COVID-19 safety measures.
It is imperative for all community members to abide by the city, county, state and campus orders and guidelines that have been put into place to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“Our campus and community have made great progress in reducing transmission of COVID-19,” said MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. “We’ve put far too much work in over the past year to become complacent now. The lure of warmer weather and increased vaccine rollouts are bringing optimism, which is a great feeling. But we all must continue working together and doing what is best for the health and safety of the greater East Lansing community.”
Community members should keep the following in mind:
- Outdoor social gatherings are limited to no more than 15 people in a portion of East Lansing and indoor residential gatherings are limited to no more than 15 people from no more than three households throughout the community. For additional information, view ICHD Emergency Order 2021-1 and the latest Gatherings and Face Mask Order from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Organizers must design their gatherings to encourage and maintain physical distancing and must ensure that persons not part of the same group maintain six feet of distance from one another to the extent possible.
- Face coverings that cover both the mouth and nose are required at all times, both indoors and outdoors, on MSU’s campus and in downtown East Lansing.
- If visiting restaurants and bars during Saint Patrick’s Day or at other busy times, patrons are asked to take advantage of the various line management apps and/or reservation systems that businesses are using to schedule their visit. Lines outside of businesses and social gatherings of more than 15 people will be prohibited within the East Lansing Downtown Development Authority district on Saint Patrick’s Day per a new mayoral order. For social gatherings of 15 or fewer people, all participants must wear face coverings and maintain six feet of physical distance from individuals outside of their households. The order is effective from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 through 2 a.m. on Thursday, March 18, 2021.
- A City of East Lansing emergency ordinance remains in place that imposes fines of $500 for violating public health orders, including the size limits for social gatherings. Public health order violations involving MSU students are also reported to the university, which could result in university sanctions, ranging from education to expulsion.
- Those who are a part of the MSU community should abide by the MSU Community Compact at all times.
- A COVID-19 exposure notification app, MI COVID Alert, is available, which MSU students, faculty and staff as well as members of the local community are encouraged to download.
“The past year has been incredibly difficult, and we all want to return to some sort of normal, but if we let our guard down now, we will be taking a huge step back in the progress we have made in bringing our COVID-19 numbers down,” said East Lansing Mayor Aaron Stephens. “As we move into warmer weather, we are asking that individuals continue to abide by the measures that have been put into place for the health and safety of everyone in our community.”
“I know many people are tired of following COVID-19 precautions, but we must continue to take every preventive measure we can to fight COVID-19,” said Ingham County Health Officer Linda S. Vail. “This pandemic will end. Every day more and more people are vaccinated. We have good reason to be optimistic, but we must remain cautious and realistic. The pandemic is not over, and it will still be months before vaccination rates are high enough to reduce COVID-19 transmission among the general public.”
East Lansing community members can report gathering limit violations, noise complaints and other non-emergency neighborhood complaints by calling the East Lansing Police Department at (517) 351-4220, Option 2. If a caller would like to remain anonymous, they can request that when speaking with the dispatcher.