On Wednesday, January 6^th, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and MDHHS officials held a press conference to announce the beginning of the next phase of COVID vaccinations, as well as to release an updated guidance document on vaccine prioritization.

On Wednesday December 16^th, the Michigan Senate passed legislation supported by the MCC that would fix a problem with statutory COVID quarantine and isolation requirements. Together with the ACC and many member companies, the MCC has been working to update a new state law enacted in October that specified return-to-work requirements for individuals who test positive for COVID-19 and those with COVID close contacts. Due to recent prevalence of COVID-19 in the general population, many companies report operational challenges because of employees quarantine due to potential exposure outside of work.

As written, the Michigan law requires a full 14-day quarantine period for COVID close contacts, with no testing provision and few exceptions for critical workers. Please note that the Michigan law conflicts with CDC guidance that allows critical workers with potential COVID exposure to continue to work as long as they remain asymptomatic, as well as recent CDC guidance that reduced quarantines for COVID close contacts from the full 14 days to either a 7 day period along with a negative test, or a 10 day period.

We Need Your Help!

As you know, one of the challenges for our industry is to explain what we do and how our chemical products are relevant to peoples’ lives. That is why we are putting together a Michigan chemistry product gift bag to help with outreach and education of key decision-makers in Lansing.

Over the past two weeks, the MCC (together with the ACC) has been working steadfastly to resolve an emerging issue regarding Michigan’s quarantine requirements for employees who have had close COVID contacts. Due to recent prevalence of COVID-19 in the general population, many companies report operational challenges because of employees quarantine due to potential exposure outside of work.

Exacerbating this situation is a new state law - effective in recent weeks - that codified an executive order specifying return-to-work requirements. The law now requires a full 14-day quarantine period for COVID close contacts, with no testing provision and few exceptions for critical workers. Please note that the Michigan law conflicts with CDC guidance that allows critical workers with potential COVID exposure to continue to work as long as they remain asymptomatic.