Dear Neighbor,
I am honored and humbled to be your state representative. As we begin a new year and legislative session facing the challenges of the pandemic and its ripple effects throughout our society, please know that my staff and I are here for you.
If you are in need of support or resources, have any questions regarding legislation or state government in general, please feel free to reach out to me at my office via email or by calling (XXX) XXX-XXXX.
Sincerely,
Firstname Lastname
State Representative, XXth House District
In this issue:
- Upcoming Coffee Hour
- COVID-19 Vaccine Update
- Epidemic Orders Update
Upcoming Coffee Hour
Please join me for my next community conversation hour on Monday, Feb. 8 at 8 a.m. You can join on Zoom by clicking here or on Facebook Live by clicking here or searching @XXXX.
COVID-19 Vaccine Update
The Oakland County Health Division is currently vaccinating individuals age 65 and older, as well as essential frontline workers as defined by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) COVID-19 vaccination plan who work or live in Oakland County. They are also visiting long-term care facilities to vaccinate residents and employees.
I recently got my first vaccine shot, and I want to encourage everyone to sign up for an appointment here. I know that getting to this point has been a long and hard road, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
They are currently vaccinating the following groups:
- Health care workers
- Emergency medical service workers
- Long-term care, assisted living/skilled nursing facility staff, and residents
- Individuals 65 years and older
- Frontline first responders
- School and childcare staff
- Corrections staff
- Frontline workers in critical infrastructure (food & agriculture, utilities, transportation, grocery store workers)
If you have specific questions about eligibility, where to set up an appointment or anything else you can contact the county health department by clicking here or calling 800-848-5533. They are experiencing high call volumes so please be patient. At this number, you can make a COVID-19 test appointment, a vaccine appointment or speak to a nurse on call.
Epidemic Orders Update
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) updated its current epidemic order to allow contact sports to resume as of Monday, Feb. 8, provided masks are worn during practices and competition. If masks cannot be worn, participants must be regularly tested for COVID-19 consistent with guidelines issued by MDHHS, which are available online at Michigan.gov/coronavirus on. Sports organizers are encouraged to administer a testing program even if it is not required. Safety protocols like wearing masks and testing will help keep kids, coaches and families safe and allow our schools to remain open for in-person instruction. The order remains in effect through Monday, March 29.
In addition to the update, MDHHS also created several helpful graphics to explain the changes in the order:
MDHHS has been closely monitoring three metrics for stabilization or declines over the past several weeks, and Michigan continues to see improvements.
In recent days, hospital capacity dedicated to COVID-19 patients has been in a 10-week decline, with current capacity at 6.6% for beds with COVID-19 patients after peaking at 19.6% on Tuesday, Dec. 4.
Overall case rates: Currently at 159 cases per million after peaking at 740 cases per million on Saturday, Nov. 14., rates have been in solid decline. Three MERC regions in the state are now below 150 cases per million people: the Detroit, Traverse City and Upper Peninsula regions.
Positivity rate: Currently at 4.9% and declining. This is the first time positivity has been this low since mid-October.