Lansing, Mich. (WLNS)– Starting Saturday, all health care facilities, residential care facilities, congregate care facilities, and juvenile justice facilities must prohibit any visitors that are not necessary for medical care, support of activities of daily living like bathing or eating, or that are not visiting under exigent circumstances.

Additionally, beginning as soon as possible but no later than Monday, March 16 at 9:00 a.m., these facilities must assess for COVID-19 symptoms and risk factors for all individuals not under their care who are seeking entry into their facilities.

The facilities must deny entry to any individual with these symptoms or risk factors. These restrictions will remain in place until April 5, 2020 at 5:00pm. During that time, the order encourages the affected facilities to use electronic communication platforms to facilitate visitations with individuals under their care.

This comes after Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed an Executive Order putting temporary restrictions on entry into health care facilities, residential care facilities, congregate care facilities and juvenile justice facilities.

The governor also signed an Executive Directive to order public bodies of departments and agencies of the state, including boards, commissions, committees, subcommittees, authorities, and councils to consider postponing public meetings that may be moved to a later time.

Additionally, department and agency public bodies subject to the Open Meetings Act that must continue to meet must do so in a way that ensures adequate notice and access for all participants. This could include remote participation by conference call, real-time streaming, or other platforms, so long as public access and participation are preserved.

“We are taking every measure we can to mitigate the spread of coronavirus and protect Michigan families,” said Governor Whitmer. “This is a hard time for families, and we will continue to put their health and safety first when making these decisions. During this crisis, we must ensure that state meetings remain open and accessible to the public. I also want to remind everyone to continue doing everything they can at an individual level to protect themselves and their families, like washing their hands and practicing social distancing. We will get through this together.”

“We believe these actions, along with those the governor has announced in the past few days, will help us slow the spread of COVID-19 in Michigan and protect our communities,” said Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Deputy for Health and Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun. “We encourage every Michigander to remain flexible and take care of each other at this time.”

Patients with confirmed infection have reportedly had mild to severe respiratory illness with symptoms of:

Fever

Cough

Shortness of breath

The best prevention for viruses, such as influenza, the common cold or COVID-19 is to:

If you think you have been exposed to COVID-19, call your health care provider. If you do not have a health care provider, call the nearest hospital.

Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for 20 seconds. If not available, use hand sanitizer.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or upper sleeve when coughing or sneezing.

Avoid contact with people who are sick.

If you are sick, stay home, and avoid contact with others.

Replace handshakes with elbow bumps.

Stay at least 6 feet away from others when in a public setting.

Information around this outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.

To view executive order 2020-6 and executive directive 2020-2, click the links below: