TUSCOLA COUNTY

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Phone: 989-673-8114 1309 Cleaver Road, Suite B, Caro, MI 48723-9160

Fax: 989-673-7490
Mustafa Mark Hamed, MD, MBA, MPH, Medical Director www.tchd.us Ann Hepfer, RN, BS, Health Officer
Ann Hepfer Health Officer Huron/Tuscola
For Immediate Release
October 05, 2020
Huron and Tuscola County Coronavirus Update
MI Supreme Court Ruling: Local Impact
On Friday, October 2, 2020, the Michigan Supreme Court determined that Governor Whitmer did not
have the authority to issue executive orders under emergency declarations past April 30, 2020. The
Huron and Tuscola County Health Departments are currently evaluating future actions to ensure the
continued health and safety of our residents. Public health orders for isolation and quarantine are not
affected by the Supreme Court’s ruling. These actions are authorized under the Michigan Public
Health Code, a law that was enacted by the Michigan Legislature in 1978 and remains in effect.
Currently the Governor has roughly 19 days left in her current Executive Orders. The Department of
Health and Human Services Director, Director Gordon, has authority under the public health code. He
has issued his own executive directives that address facial coverings, MI Safe Start and Safe Worker
directives that remain in place. You can find these posted on the MI COVID19 website.

This ruling does not change our local public health mission to reduce and prevent infection in our
residents. You are our number one concern. Our leadership team will continue to work with the
Board of Health, Board of Commissioners and legal team to determine what additional next steps we
might need to take.

What we do know:

1. Our current infection rates in Huron and Tuscola remain low

2. Our schools are currently open and functioning safely
3. The businesses are functioning with very little disturbances due to staff illnesses
4. Hospitals are currently not seeing significant spikes in illness and have capacity to address
illness
5. Long Term Care (Nursing Homes) are not experiencing outbreaks.

This tells us that the following mitigation practices are working;

1. Wearing masks
2. Social distancing
3. Maintain good hand washing practices
4. Avoiding large events or social gatherings without the use of masks and social distancing
 5. Staying home when you are sick or have flu like symptoms
6. Those at the greatest at risk for infection are avoiding large indoor gatherings.

What your local health department will continue to do until there is a vaccine and effective
treatment to prevent further spread
1. We will continue to promote prevention strategies that will reduce the impact on our communities.
2. We will continue with drive thru weekly testing throughout the winter
3. We will continue with case investigation and contact tracing
4. We will continue with isolation and quarantine strategies to reduce infections
5. We will continue to promote compliance with mitigation strategies.
6. We will share additional information as it becomes available.

We appreciate everyone who has contacted our departments to provide feedback and expressed
concern over the potential implications of these actions.  We continue to encourage everyone to
wear facial coverings when inside public places, maintain physical distance from others and practice
good handwashing hygiene. We will share more information as it becomes available in the coming
days.