lineage b.1.617.2, first discovered in india, was confirmed in a person from clinton county. delta variant on june 26, it was reported that the first case of lineage b.1.617 delta variant was reported in a fully vaccinated ottawa county resident. omicron variant as of december 24, michigan has reported 13 confirmed cases of the omicron variant in six counties. government response emergency response on february 3, the michigan department of health and human services (mdhhs) activated its community health emergency coordination center to support local and state response to the coronavirus. on february 28, the state emergency operations center was activated by governor gretchen whitmer to assist with coordination. on march 3, the governor created four covid-19 task forces: state operations, health and human services, education, and economy/workforce. a state of emergency at the state level was declared by the governor on march 10 (executive order 2020-04). it has since been renewed several times, the latest expiration date being october 27, 2020. the national coronavirus outbreak triggered a state of emergency response at the state level on march 10 followed by governor gretchen whitmer announcing the closure of all k–12 school buildings until april 5. face-to-face instruction for all michigan schools was later suspended for the remainder of the 2019–20 school year, with guidelines implemented to transition students to home learning formats. on march 16, governor whitmer ordered bars, restaurants, entertainment venues, and other businesses to partially close for two weeks and later banned events and gatherings of more than 50 from march 17 – april 5. on march 24, a statewide stay-at-home order was issued, limiting all non-essential travel and discontinuing all non-essential business services and operations. it was originally set to expire on april 13, but was extended until april 30 with several new social distancing restrictions. the order was later extended to may 15, with some restrictions lifted and others added, such as mandatory face-covering usage in public buildings and businesses. the order was later extended again until may 28 and added modifications of the restrictions from previous orders. the face mask requirement was a factor in the killing of a security guard at a family dollar store in flint after a woman refused to wear a mask and was denied entry, leading to the arrests of a family of four people, in which a 23-year-old man was charged with first-degree murder. governor whitmer has since extended the face mask requirement until july 15. on july 10, she extended the requirement and added a provision in which businesses can be fined $500 for not enforcing it and customers may be refused service for failing to wear one. the state legislature approved $125 million to aid in relief efforts on march 17, and governor gretchen whitmer called in the michigan army national guard to assist with supply distribution the next day. the state legislature allocated an additional $150 million for medical supplies and personal protective equipment for hospitals on march 30. governor whitmer requested a major disaster declaration on march 26, which president donald trump granted on march 28. several of the restrictions on businesses and medical facilities were lifted in late may. governor whitmer has issued several states of emergency, the latest of which expired on october 27. on june 1, the governor announced that the stay at home order was partially lifted and that michigan was in stage four of its six-stage re-opening plan. outdoor crowds of up to 100 people are allowed starting june 1. restaurants and bars began re-opening for indoor dining services starting june 8, and other restrictions on businesses were loosened. hair and nail salons, barbershops, and tattoo and massage parlors were allowed to reopen on june 15. starting july 31, indoor gatherings will be limited to 10 people and bars will be closed for indoor service and outdoor gatherings to 100. on august 14, governor whitmer announced four million masks will be distributed to vulnerable populations in michigan. movie theaters and other entertainment venues were allowed to re-open on october 9. on october 22, governor whitmer signed several bills that protect workers from the spread of coronavirus on the job and protect businesses from lawsuits related to people contracting covid-19 if they are following all prevention mandates. on october 29, the mdhhs issued a new mask mandate and crowd size limitations for public places, businesses, private gatherings, and restaurants. on november 15, after several days of record highs in new cases, governor whitmer announced the mdhhs has ordered the closure of several businesses and services for three weeks, effective november 18. specifically, high schools and universities are closed to in-person learning, and organized sports (except for professional) are on hiatus. businesses ordered to close include live theaters, movie theaters, stadiums, arenas, bowling centers, ice skating rinks, indoor water parks, bingo halls, casinos, arcades, and group fitness classes. a month later on december 18, the state announced an extension of the shutdown for indoor dining and bars for four weeks, but allowed other indoor entertainment venues like theaters, casinos, bowling alleys and indoor gun ranges will be allowed to reopen with capacity limits and a ban on concessions. high schools, colleges and universities will be allowed to reopen on january 4. on february 8, 2021, the federal emergency management agency gave michigan dhhs $8,375,955 for covid-19 vaccination distribution efforts. in may 2021, it was determined that governor whitmer did not follow michigan department of health and human services (mdhhs) self-quarantine rules upon her march trip to florida. education for impacts on high school and college sports, see § high school, and § college. as of march 11, all campuses of the lake superior state university, university of michigan, western michigan university, wayne state university, michigan technological university, northern michigan university, michigan state university, grand valley state university, saginaw valley state university, central michigan university, and all community colleges, had various restrictions on students and faculty in response to the virus. executive order 2020-05 also included the closure of all k–12 school buildings from march 16 through april 5 (executive order 2020-05). on april 2, the order was updated to suspend the remainder of the 2019–20 school year unless crisis restrictions are otherwise lifted. the order included guidelines for the development and distribution of home learning materials. additionally, all high school seniors will be given the opportunity to graduate on their previously anticipated date. additionally, on march 13, the michigan department of education was granted a federal waiver by the united states department of agriculture. the waiver allowed for students who will receive food from the unanticipated school closure sfsp to not be mandated to receive the food in a group setting. the michigan department of corrections banned visitors to prisons, along with prohibiting any volunteers from the prison. staff at prisons will be required to have their temperature tested and be proven to be under 100.4 °f (38.0 °c) along with other measures. the michigan career and technical institute suspended all programs until april 5. on june 30, governor whitmer released the state's "return to school roadmap" containing three proposed plans for re-opening k-12 schools for the upcoming 2020–21 school year. on august 18, michigan state university moved all classes for the fall 2020 semester to virtual learning. on august 19, it was announced the state's public schools, especially low-income school districts, are receiving a combined $65 million for virtual learning technology. august 24, eastern michigan university postponed its date for students to move onto campus from august 27 to september 17. it began its fall semester online on august 31, but will transition the small number of classes that were scheduled to be in-person to a near fully online schedule through september 20. in december 2020, two veterinary students appeared before the msu board of trustees, on behalf of the graduating classes of 2023 and 2024, to request a tuition rebate for months of online instruction after originally expecting a mix of in-person and online courses. msu president samuel l. stanley jr. commented that a refund wouldn't be practical due to the university's fixed costs, and that the change in instruction was "one of the unfortunate casualties of the pandemic." in january 2021, msu instituted a lockdown for the minority of students who had returned to campus, asking all in-person students to primarily stay in their residences for two weeks, citing a rapid increase in the university's covid-19 positivity rate. in early february 2021, senior nursing students in the baker college system began to directly administer vaccines to patients at sites throughout michigan, under the supervision of nursing faculty. the university of michigan (ann arbor campus) will require students to prove they've been fully vaccinated by july 15 to live in dorms in fall 2021 and subsequent semesters. michigan state university subsequently decided to require covid-19 vaccination and masking for all new and returning students by august 31, citing new cdc data regarding the contagiousness of the delta variant. 2020 on march 13, with executive order 2020–05, the governor banned all gatherings of 250 or more people in a single space starting that day. the ban made exceptions for residential facilities and child care services at schools in addition to exemptions for consumers buying groceries or products, for industrial and manufacturing work, and for public transport and other forms of mass transit (executive order 2020-05) the ban was lowered to 50 people on march 16 per a cdc recommendation and is effective from march 17 – april 5. the order was later updated to exclude houses of worship from penalty if they convened more than 50 people. michigan secretary of state jocelyn benson issued an order starting march 16 to limit all michigan secretary of state branch offices to appointment-only instead of walk-ins. the only services provided by the offices will be for those applying for new licenses and ids, for title transfers, and for testing for a license. all branches will no longer be open on saturdays, with most weekday hours expanding. for those renewing their licenses, the proof of car insurance requirement was waived. also waived were late fees associated with the change. members of the michigan army national guard loading medical supplies on march 10, attorney general dana nessel set up a hotline to report businesses price gouging goods such as toilet paper, meat, milk, bread, bottled water, face masks, hand sanitizers, and cleaning supplies. sellers face fines if their asking price is at least 20% higher than it was on march 9, after an executive order from governor whitmer banned the practice, until april 16. the order includes a clause that exempts retailers if they "can prove the increase is attributable to an increase in cost of bringing the product to market or an extraordinary discount was in effect as of march 9". as of march 19, at least 800 complaints have been received. on march 19, nessel sent a cease and desist letter to menards after her investigators found evidence of price hikes, sometimes doubling the retail cost, on high-demand bleach and 3m face masks. in other instances, tipsters reported seeing face masks that cost $10 each, cases of water for $35, and bottles of hand sanitizer for $60. whitmer issued a second order on march 20 which "focuses enforcement resources on the cases most pertinent to the emergency by clarifying which price increases constitute price gouging." as of april 14, 3,541 complaints have been received. on march 20, governor whitmer signed an executive order banning landlords from filing eviction requests against tenants until april 17, which she says "relieves courts from certain statutory restrictions to enable them to stay eviction-related proceedings until after the covid-19 emergency has passed". also on that date, whitmer signed an executive order for medical and dental facilities to postpone any "non-essential" procedures, such as plastic surgery and teeth whitening, beginning march 20 through the time the state of emergency is lifted. on march 21, whitmer issued an executive order to close facilities that provide non-essential personal care services such as hair and nail salons, tanning salons, spas, and businesses that offer massages, tattoos, body art, and piercings, until april 13. on march 30, governor whitmer signed an executive order banning non-essential veterinary visits. on may 18, governor whitmer issued two executive orders, one prohibiting factories from giving tours