The Van Dyke School System in Macomb County has closed all eight schools because of illnesses from COVID-19, RSV and the flu.
Overall, our state remains largely at a low level of community transmission of COVID-19, however, the state's COVID-19 cases rose by more than 3,000 from the previous week.
One parent we talked to said this is a first, but she's happy they are taking precautions.
The district's message is "It's definitely December in Michigan," saying because of the spike in illnesses, it's not able to safely operate right now.
"It's so much going on after COVID that, right now, usually it would be the flu but now there's so much going on that the district had to close down," Parent Latoya Gibson said.
She has five kids in the school district who will be home on Friday. He son, Amauri, attends Lincoln Middle School and has already noticed the toll this winter's so-called "trifecta" has had on the district.
"Yea, most of my teachers have been out of school," Amauri said.
Parents were notified Thursday by the district. Right now, local hospitals are battling a spike in cases of RSV, COVID-19 and the flu.
Macomb County has a low level of community spread, but at the Martha Berry long-term care facility, 49 residents have COVID-19, but about half of them have no symptoms.
"It is not a surprise to us now is flu season or cold season. We just found that COVID is one more thing we are adding to that list that requires us to pay a little more attention and has good standard precautions," Kevin Evans, the executive director of Martha Berry, said.
Federal and local health officials are reminding everyone to stay up-to-date on vaccines, particularly the COVID-19 bivalent booster.
