Governor Gretchen Whitmer is moving the Upper Peninsula backwards in the state’s reopening plan.
She says a recent surge of COVID-19 cases there means Yoopers need to take more precautions.
The UP largely avoided coronavirus outbreaks until early this summer.
In mid-June cases in rural counties began rising.
Then infections shot up in August and never leveled off.
By mid-September Whitmer says there was a ‘surge.’
So the Governor is returning the region to Phase 4 which means work-from-home, enforcing mask-wearing in schools, and indoor gatherings with less than 10 people.
The Superintendent of Copper Country ISD, George Stockero says restrictions are needed to help stop the spread to schools.
“We want kids to be face-to-face as much as possible," said Stockero. "Practicing the social distancing... face masks... things like that which we are trying to teach we think will help. But we need our community to do that also.”
He says he’s had to quarantine several classes at his 13 schools.
And staffing is a challenge as there’s a shortage of subs.