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    Director Hertel Letter

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    A letter to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel from the Michigan Association for Local Public Health.

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    Director Hertel Letter

    Uploaded by

    WWMT
    7K views2 pages
    A letter to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel from the Michigan Association for Local Public Health.

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    A letter to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel from the Michigan Association for Local Public Health.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    7K views2 pages

    Director Hertel Letter

    Uploaded by

    WWMT
    A letter to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel from the Michigan Association for Local Public Health.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    Elizabeth Hertel, Director

    Michigan Department of Health and Human Services


    333 S. Grand Avenue
    Lansing, Michigan 48933

    September 24, 2021

    Director Hertel,

    On September 8, 2021, we sent you an urgent call for leadership to help contain the
    spread of COVID-19 in communities around the state and support local health officials
    under fire.

    We are compelled to again alert you to the steadily declining conditions on the ground in
    communities around Michigan and ask you to take action to curb the spread of COVID-
    19 in our state. Simply put, Michigan needs a statewide mask mandate for K-12
    educational institutions, at very least until this COVID-19 wave has passed.

    The situation transcends the public health crisis. Leaving COVID-19 control response to
    local officials has put many of them in professional and personal danger. Angry protest
    mobs in local communities around the state are bullying local officials and preventing
    them from implementing local mitigation measures. Just yesterday, the media reported
    that a citizen attempted to arrest a health officer during a public meeting.

    You shared with us your belief that local residents would more readily accept a local
    mandate. We confidently report this has not worked as planned.

    The inclusion of “unenforceable” prohibitions on local health authority in the budget bill
    is already increasing local confusion and dissent. Local health officers report
    reinvigorated opposition to COVID mitigation measures based on this development.

    This is no longer a local situation. The Delta variant is affecting people of all ages in
    every county of the state. Our hospitals are rapidly filling or are full, and this time it
    includes a significant population of children.

    We again request you revisit the issue of a statewide mask mandate in schools.
    Children too young to be vaccinated need to be wearing masks at school.

    P.O. Box 13276 * Lansing, Michigan 48901 * (517) 485-0660 * (517) 485-6412 Fax
    326 West Ottawa St. * Lansing, Michigan 48933 * www.malph.org
    Absent that, we are concerned the impending wave of illnesses will result in a steady
    return to virtual learning in Michigan school districts, one by one, and all that comes with
    it – for parents and school employees, businesses and the economy.

    We recognize this is a difficult thing to ask, but local health officers are reaching their
    limits and need this support. We look forward to our continued working relationship with
    your office.

    Sincerely,

    Norm Hess, Executive Director


    Michigan Association for Local Public Health

    CC: Nick Derusha, President, MALPH


    Hon. Gretchen Whitmer, Governor

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