ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor is no longer operating under a local state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now two and a half years since the start of the pandemic, City Council voted 6-5 Tuesday morning, Oct. 4, to terminate the city’s 2020 state-of-emergency declaration, determining such a declaration is no longer necessary for the city to take appropriate measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
While the threat to human health still exists, preventive measures such as vaccination, masking, social distancing and isolation after contact have become established methods for controlling transmission, council stated in a resolution sponsored by Council Member Jeff Hayner, D-1st Ward.
Hayner recalled the thinking around declaring a state of emergency in the early days of the pandemic, noting there were a lot of concerns and the city wanted to be positioned to call up “all sorts of local and state resources.” Mayor Christopher Taylor used his executive authority in 2020 to declare a local emergency, which City Council backed at the time.
Hayner said he asked the city administrator how the city’s declaration and emergency authority granted to the mayor have been used and there were a handful of ways, but nothing the city can’t achieve now through council resolutions and policies.
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Michigan and Washtenaw County emergency declarations and health orders related to COVID-19 also have expired or been rescinded, the council resolution states.
The six in favor of lifting Ann Arbor’s emergency declaration were Taylor, Hayner, Erica Briggs, Kathy Griswold, Elizabeth Nelson and Ali Ramlawi. The five opposed were Lisa Disch, Jen Eyer, Julie Grand, Travis Radina and Linh Song.
COVID-19 case trends in Washtenaw County.Washtenaw County Health Department
The resolution reaffirms City Council’s support for continuing to require people appointed to city boards and commissions to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and for continuing electronic meetings for certain city boards and commissions.
Hayner wanted to strip a clause that called those measures prudent, but he was outnumbered 10-1. He referenced the phrase “keep your laws off my body” while questioning the city’s legal ability to require vaccinations.
Other officials noted another clause in the resolution still maintained the vaccine requirement, so Hayner’s proposal to strike only one clause was immaterial.
After the rejection of Hayner’s amendment, Ramlawi, D-5th Ward, motioned to strike the material clause regarding vaccine requirements and electronic meetings, but no one backed him. Ramlawi said he knows three people who have heart problems directly related to vaccinations.
Monday night’s meeting, which lasted into Tuesday morning, marked the first meeting since council voted 8-3 last month to adopt a new policy to no longer require masks at council meetings unless the local weekly COVID-19 transmission rate is high, meaning 200 cases or more per 100,000 residents. With a recent rate of 144 cases per 100,000 residents, Washtenaw County is in the medium-risk category and some officials chose not to wear masks for the first time Monday night after masking up at meetings for the past year.
There have been over 101,000 confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases reported among county residents since the pandemic started, including 580 deaths and over 3,500 hospitalizations, according to the county health department.
In the 24 hours prior to 10 a.m. Monday morning, there were another 44 cases reported among county residents, including four hospitalizations and three deaths.
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