MI Extends COVID-19 Workplace Rules As New Cases Continue To Rise

LANSING, MI — Michigan on Tuesday extended some COVID-19 emergency rules relating to in-person working conditions and employer-mandated coronavirus rules as the state continues to see a spike in new coronavirus cases.

Businesses that resume in-person work are required to have a written COVID-19 preparedness plan, provide personal protective equipment to workers and require remote work for employees whenever feasible, according to the rules extended on Tuesday.

“MIOSHA’s emergency rules help keep us all safe by ensuring that employers implement common sense safety standards to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “When employers maintain a safe workplace, that gives workers and consumers the confidence to keep our economy moving.”

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The rules — originally implemented in October 2020 — will expire on Oct. 14 unless extended again.

The state has reported 670 coronavirus outbreaks in manufacturing and construction businesses, 250 in restaurants and bars, 374 in retail stores, 332 in office settings and 52 in personal care businesses.

Whitmer said on Monday while touring a vaccination site on the campus of Eastern Michigan University that she intended to extend the rules.

The extension of COVID-19 workplace rules in Michigan comes as the number of cases in the state has increased in recent weeks. Michigan reported 8,867 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and added 74 COVID-19 deaths, according to state numbers.

Michigan reached its all-time highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday, with 4,011 people in the hospital with confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services data.

The state received a blow on Tuesday when it paused the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine following a recommendation from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because of blood-clot concerns.

More than 6.8 million doses of New Brunswick-based company's vaccine have been administered in the U.S. as of Monday, according to the FDA. The CDC and FDA are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the vaccine.

All six cases occurred among women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination, according to officials.

According to state data, 328,700 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been distributed across Michigan as of Monday. A little more than 199,000 of those doses had been administered, according to state data.

The state was expecting 17,500 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be distributed this week, according to the CDC.