Rewinding two years of pandemic survival in Greater Lansing 

It’s been two years since COVID-19 was detected in Michigan. Since then, more than 2 million residents — including at least 88,000 people in Greater Lansing — have caught the virus, and more than 32,000 Michiganders have reportedly died from complications tied to their infections. 

The two-year death toll in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties topped 1,200 this week. As we move past the grim second anniversary of the pandemic, let’s take a look at how we got here. 

2020 

TUESDAY, March 10 — The coronavirus arrives in Michigan with the first two cases in southeast Michigan. The announcement was made just after polls closed for the primary election and almost immediately triggered heightened public health precautions statewide. 

Michigan State University called off in-person classes. Students celebrated at local bars. By Thursday, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor suspended employee travel. Residents were asked to watch Council meetings from home. Cops stopped responding in-person to certain crimes to reduce exposure. Michigan was tracking 50 cases by Saturday — three in Ingham County. 

Over the next few weeks, executive orders from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shuttered restaurant dining rooms, movie theaters, salons, libraries, casinos, gyms and just about every other venue. Business leaders were quickly up in arms over the newly restrictive rules. 

By month’s end, Whitmer ordered closed all other business operations that were “not necessary to sustain or protect life” and directed residents to stay home. The state tracked at least 1,300 cases and 15 deaths. 

Retail associations advised stores to stop accepting empty beer and soda containers. Toilet paper and paper towels start to become scarce as local residents needlessly hoarded supplies. 

On April 1, Ingham County reported its first COVID-19 death: a homebound man in his mid-50s with underlying health issues. Two weeks later, Beaumont Health, the state’s largest healthcare system, announced it was nearing capacity with nearly 450 COVID-19 patients in its hospitals.

WEDNESDAY, April 15 — Thousands of beeping vehicles swarm downtown Lansing, jamming up intersections, blocking roads and crowding the Capitol lawn to protest Whitmer’s directives. 

By then, health officials had tracked nearly 30,000 cases and 2,000 deaths in Michigan. About 500 people tested positive for the virus in Greater Lansing; The local death toll rested at 17. 

Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth reported that most local entrepreneurs had fallen in line with state orders, though a few businesses were still “pushing boundaries” on restrictions. 

On April 30, thousands more protesters arrived at the Capitol, rallying in the rain against Whitmer’s orders before unsuccessfully attempting to breach the House floor. 

By the summer months, disputes over emergency powers had reached a boiling point after Whitmer refused to delegate to lawmakers her executive powers to declare and extend a state of emergency in Michigan. George Floyd’s murder in May also created a renewed disdain for police officers, heightening societal tensions and political discourse on both sides of the aisle. 

MONDAY, JUNE 8 — Michigan is riding high: Caseloads are decreasing and state officials recorded the for the first time that more than half of all patients have recovered from the illness. It was a slight sign of hope and a trigger for freedom. 

Some Bars and restaurants reopened for the first time, though many were still closed or limited to carry-out orders. Massive crowds again formed at Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub in East Lansing, with plenty of celebratory breathing abound. 

A trickle of revised executive orders over the summer made small social gatherings legal again, though those mandates were rarely enforced. Shuttered sections of the state’s economy were allowed to reopen. Cranes were also back in the sky above Lansing. Companies wasted no time getting their builders and manufacturers back to work — though many companies and offices were still reluctant to restart business as usual while viral fears lingered. 

An outbreak in the South Lansing Asian community showcased racial disparities tied to the pandemic. Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch and the Meijer warehouse were identified as the epicenter. Health officials also tagged Harper’s Restaurant and Brewpub, in East Lansing, as a viral hotspot. 

Sparrow Health System opened a testing site at the Frandor Shopping Center. A legal battle between Whitmer and the Legislature over her public health protections continued. And by July, at least two dozen other bars and restaurants were ordered to again limit capacities.  

An unusually quiet Welcome Weekend followed at MSU. City Pulse counted at least 70 local businesses that had closed through August. And by September, Ingham County was back in “crisis mode” again after tracking the highest case transmission rates anywhere in the state.  

THURSDAY, Nov. 12 — The pandemic reached new levels of uncontrolled spread following a tumultuous election cycle, surging past 220,000 COVID-19 cases and 7,700 deaths.  

Whitmer’s executive authorities had also then been defeated in court, but the state Department of Health and Human Services enacted new restrictions to slow the spread — another “three-week pause” on social gatherings, along with more dining room closures for bars and restaurants. It was crippling for the industry, but the rules appeared to serve their purpose. County health officials remained hopeful while daily caseloads — as high as 10,000 in mid-November — sharply declined into December. 

The first emergency use vaccine authorizations from the FDA were issued before Christmas, though it would still be a few months until they were available to anyone who wanted them. 

2021 

Greater Lansing (and much of Michigan) escaped an anticipated holiday-related case surge. State officials were still on high alert after the first B117 variant case was detected in January. 

Early vaccine supplies were carefully prioritized after the holidays to those most at risk, but City Pulse discovered that Schor and City Councilmen Peter Spadafore and Brandon Betz had jumped the line — an issue that became less controversial as supply caught up with demand. 

Despite the circulation of more contagious variants, caseloads only tumbled into February — triggering state officials to again reel back epidemic restrictions in March to allow for larger household gatherings and expanded capacity limits at bars, restaurants and other venues. 

The shift was met about a week later with yet another rise in caseloads: the state’s “third wave.” 

WEDNESDAY, March 10 — The virus’ one-year anniversary in Michigan was marked by a statewide death toll of 17,000 — including 276 people who had died in Ingham County. 

In an interview with City Pulse, Whitmer looked back at the year with relentless optimism. 

“What happens in the next couple of months is going to decide how well we actually rebound,” she said. “As we come out of this, I know I'm going to continue trying to engage in dialogue with people who don't automatically see the world the same way as me. I want to learn from them.” 

Later that month, the state again restricted indoor gatherings to no more than three households at a time while case rates pushed to new extremes. East Lansing also ordered masks in outdoor spaces across most of the downtown area. The county followed suit with fresh capacity limits. 

By April, anyone over age 16 could get vaccinated. The state set a goal to jab at least 70% of the population — a finish line that still remains uncrossed with a vaccination rate of about 66%. 

THURSDAY, April 15 — The “third wave” of the pandemic makes Greater Lansing among the metropolitan areas with the fastest climbing rates of coronavirus transmission in the country. 

“We are not through this. Don’t give up now,” said Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail. 

Mass vaccination efforts railed on at MSU facilities and the Ingham County Fairgrounds. The Lansing City Council announced it would meet virtually until caseloads begin to decrease. A brief pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine created continued concerns over vaccine hesitancy after it was found that some women developed blood clots after getting their shots. 

Before month’s en, the state ordered children ages 2 to 4 to wear face coverings while in gatherings at schools, camps and other childcare facilities. Political tensions lingered, as did a dangerous pattern of misinformation about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.  

MONDAY, May 25 — The curve flattens. 

With at least 55% of Michigan residents ages 16 and older vaccinated against the coronavirus, the state reeled back precautions and allowed all in-person work to resume across all sectors of employment. The daily commute resumes for thousands of people. The return to in-person work across all sectors marked the first official milestone of Whitmer’s “MI Vacc to Normal” plan, triggered by at least 4.45 million Michigan residents having received both doses of vaccine. 

The following weeks saw curfews and capacity limits lifted at restaurants and bars. Restrictions on face masks also loosened: Fully vaccinated people were no longer required to wear masks or socially distance in most settings. Most local businesses stopped requiring them at all. 

Lingering uncertainties (and overall hesitancy to get back to work) also produced staffing shortages at a vast number of local employers. Experts estimated that the Lansing area alone saw more than 22,000 new job postings in August — up about 44% from over the prior year.  

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 22 — The FDA authorizes booster vaccines for older adults and others at higher risk of COVID-19 complications while the Delta variant begins ratcheting up caseloads. 

While a handful of Michigan schools had closed due to widespread illnesses, teachers hoped digital learning would keep schools on schedule for yet another virtual year of education.  

Mask mandates stayed contentious. Several lawsuits were filed against several districts across the country over decisions on COVID-19 protocols that fall — including a now-dismissed case from an “anti-masker” father at Dewitt Public Schools who wanted the mask mandates dropped.

At the onset of that “fourth wave” in October, Sparrow Hospital nurses picketed in Lansing, calling on administrators to fix staffing shortages and poor working conditions as cases rose.  

“The pandemic has shown us the flaws in our healthcare system and how vital it is that these flaws be fixed. Sparrow executives cannot keep choosing to skate on thin ice with our staffing levels,” said Katie Pontifex, a local nurse and president of the Professional Employee Council. 

By November, both McLaren and Sparrow hospitals were again at or close to full capacity. 

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor lifted a universal mask mandate at City Hall in November, a controversial move that he reversed days later after local health officials pushed back. 

Every Michigan county ranked “high risk” in the CDC’s “for coronavirus transmission as winter arrived. In Ingham County, that spike was evidenced by more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases and 10 related deaths tracked in one week.  

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 1 — County health officials were “troubled” and “perplexed” by a recent increase in cases across Ingham County, a statistic that also was borne out across Michigan. 

Percent positivity rates had doubled since October. Greater Lansing was in trouble — again. 

“I didn’t expect a surge this time around,” Vail said. “I figured with the vaccine we’d be OK.” 

Vail tied the increase in cases and hospitalizations to networks of unvaccinated people. Fully vaccinated individuals then represented only about 25% of all cases of COVID-19. And since January, fully vaccinated people represented only about 1.7% of cases and 0.02% of deaths. 

About a week later, the first Michigan case of the omicron variant was detected in Michigan. The state ended up tracking a total of about 1 million more cases in 2021 — bringing the statewide total caseload to about 1.5 million since the pandemic arrived in the state. Ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties collectively accounted for about 65,000 of those cases and 1,000 deaths. 

2022 

TUESDAY, Jan. 25 — The Ingham County Health Department tracked enough cases to represent about one infection for every five county residents while the omicron variant spread. 

January marked a month-long average of about 555 new COVID-19 cases tracked daily — the single highest rate of case positivity rates tracked since the pandemic began in March 2020. 

Over the last few weeks, caseloads and positive rates plummeted near all-time lows.  

Face masks became less common — either through optimism or pandemic fatigue. 

And as of last week, about 73% of Ingham County residents who are eligible to receive the vaccine had one, officials said. Some age groups fared better than others: About 98% of those over age 65 were vaccinated. But only about 39% of children between ages of 5-11 were vaccinated, in part because those shots were only available since mid-November.