Nearly 80% of Northern Michigan University employees and 63% of the overall on-campus student population have been vaccinated heading into the fall semester, according to a July 29 email from President Fritz Erickson to the campus community. The latter rate will increase, as many first-year students have yet to upload their information to the university's Bridge app. Erickson also reported that NMU is not holding a mass testing event or mandating vaccines, but is requiring that unvaccinated individuals wear masks indoors.
“On Tuesday (July 27), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its recommendation regarding vaccinated individuals wearing masks when indoors for areas that have high rates of active COVID-19 cases. Since Marquette and most of the Upper Peninsula are not at the level the CDC considers high risk, we're not going to change our policy and we'll continue to monitor the situation.
"I remind you that these [protocols] might change in the event that the COVID-19 situation on campus, in Marquette or the U.P., or in the state change. There may be external entities (i.e. state or federal government, NCAA or athletic conference, others) or significant changes to the public health situation that impact our decision-making on this at some point in the future.”
Northern has moved isolation/quarantine activities from Spalding Hall to Spooner Halo, with 26 beds available for NMU residence hall students, if needed.