Health officials restrict pregame parties ahead of MSU football game

Outdoor gatherings limited to 10 people across downtown East Lansing

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THURSDAY, Oct. 29 — Officials at the Ingham County Health Department are beefing up coronavirus-related crowd restrictions on outdoor gatherings in East Lansing ahead of this Saturday’s football game between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan.

Under an order issued yesterday by Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail, no more than 10 people may now gather outdoors in parts of East Lansing, including the downtown area, until further notice. The order, which took immediate effect, tightened a prior 25-person limitation.

The punishment: A misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine — though both health officials and local cops have emphasized that verbal warnings will proceed tickets.

Vail, in a press release, noted that stricter limits on crowd sizes were necessary to prevent local outbreaks associated with Halloween and football-related parties — particularly in East Lansing, where about 38% of Ingham County’s 4,600 COVID-19 total cases have been detected to date.

MSU plays U-M on Saturday. And while in-person attendance is restricted, parties are expected.

“While most MSU students are doing the right thing and cheering on the Spartans in a safe manner, we are still seeing far too many large off-campus gatherings without masks and physical distancing,” East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas said in a press release.

The new restriction stretches from the northern edge of MSU’s campus to Burcham Drive and is bounded by Harrison Road to the west and Hagadorn Road to the east, including adjacent properties. The area was identified based on the high frequency of noise ordinance violations.

Records show that people ages 20-29 have accounted for 40% of all COVID-19 cases in Ingham County since the pandemic began. The restricted area, designed to target that demographic, also has a high concentration of college students and rental properties, Vail said.

Throughout the rest of the mid-Michigan region, outdoor gatherings are restricted to 100 people or less under restrictions from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Indoor gatherings across Greater Lansing also remain tightly restricted to no more than 10 people.

Schools, childcare organizations, community centers, places of religious worship, farmers markets and parks within the restricted area are exempt from the emergency order, but must continue to comply with the 100-person outdoor limit laid out by state officials earlier this month.

All gatherings, indoors and out, must also be designed to ensure that people from different households maintain a social distance of at least six feet, Vail noted. Restaurants are classified differently than social gatherings and are specifically not included in these emergency orders.

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