Georgians will increasingly be on their own to fight the coronavirus in the coming weeks as Gov. Brian Kemp scales back statewide social distancing mandates to benefit the state’s struggling economy. Kemp’s decision this week to begin reopening the state for business made Georgia an outlier among the states by focusing on the pandemic’s most serious collateral damage. Georgia still ranks in the lowest tier of states in coronavirus testing rates, and the statewide death toll now exceeds 800. Under Kemp’s orders, businesses such as gyms, barber shops and tattoo parlors may reopen on Friday. Restaurants may resume dine-in service next Monday. And Kemp appeared ready to let a statewide shelter-at-home order expire on April 30. Kemp is sending mixed messages about containing the virus, public health experts said, telling Georgians it’s safe to eat in a restaurant or get a haircut while still ordering them to stay home. “This creates significant confusion, undermines credibility and does not provide clear direction to the public,” said Matthew Seeger, a professor and dean at Wayne State University who specializes in public health communication. “The result is a reduced trust in government and reduced ability to persuade the public to take appropriate action.”

As the realization that we were going into an extended period of lockdown began to dawn, a frenzy of questions started flying around the internet. Many people were wondering what it might mean for our romantic lives, from whether we should still date while social distancing to how to practice safe sex during the pandemic. But what about at an emotional level? What should we do to keep our relationships happy and healthy during the pandemic? In the absence of a loved one, something physically sent by them can help. Katheryn Maguire, a professor in the department of communication at Wayne State University, talks about the remedying effects of a “good old-fashioned handwritten letter.” “There is something special about holding something they held,” she says. “The paper was in their hand; you see their writing, if they wear perfume [you can smell it], that makes it very present.” In fact, isolating together brings its own stresses. One thing that long-distance relationships can teach us then is there is something about segmenting your life: being together and focused on each other when you are, and being apart and focused on that,” says Maguire. Maguire concludes that if the only problem you have is being away from each other – well, that’s a really good sign. Likewise, couples isolating together should remember that the stress of quarantine will pass.

Elizabeth Stoycheff, associate professor of communication at Wayne State University, addresses privacy and security issues that have increased during the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced many to stay connected virtually. As a researcher who investigates how these issues affect the use of online platforms, Stoycheff outlines the differences between privacy and security and the different consequences for using videoconferencing platforms.

Residents of Michigan communities with large African-American populations are disproportionately sickened and killed by the coronavirus, according to a Bridge Magazine analysis of public health data. Detroit, which is 79 percent African American, has 7 percent of Michigan’s population but 26 percent of the state’s infections and 25 percent of its deaths. The outbreak so far is centered in southeast Michigan, as Wayne, Oakland and Macomb have 80 percent of the state’s 9,334 cases as of Wednesday. Bridge’s analysis of public records shows: In suburban Wayne County, communities with the largest black populations — Highland Park, Redford Township, Ecorse, River Rouge and Romulus — have roughly double the rate of infection as the county. In Oakland County, infection rates are highest in majority-black Southfield and suburbs with higher-than-average black populations: Lathrup Village, West Bloomfield and Farmington Hills. In Macomb County, nearly 35 percent of all infections were among African Americans, who comprise less than 15 percent of the county’s population. County maps show the most cases are in southern Macomb including Warren, Eastpointe and Roseville, all of which have a higher percentage of African-American residents. Matthew Seeger, a communications professor at Wayne State University who has worked with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said public health officials must tailor messages to different audiences by using different media. He said Whitmer, Duggan and Evans have done an “exceptional job” so far.

Local theaters are silent as productions have paused to limit the spread of COVID-19. While some people stuck at home rediscover hobbies, local thespians feel lost and adrift without their creative outlet, missing the chance to create, perform, enjoy the spotlight and an audience’s applause. Sarah Hawkins, an area actor who teachers theater at Wayne State University, has had her classes move to an online platform. The online platform is challenging for theater performance students who rely on human contact and full-body movement to practice their art. “I feel fortunate to have the steady employment of teaching…” she said. “I am struggling with how to best support my students in their creative endeavors, knowing they will be entering a field that will be hard-hit after this pandemic comes to an end.”

People looking for the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Oakland County on Thursday morning found two numbers: the state said there were 23 confirmed cases, while a report based off the county’s numbers said 94. They’re different because the state’s data lags. The state initially reported it at 6 p.m. every day, then switched to 2 p.m., reporting the confirmed cases from across the state as of midnight the day before. On Thursday the state data lagged even more as officials added in information from private labs and got the latest state number out – 336 confirmed cases, 105 in Oakland County – a little after 3 p.m. And the discrepancy with Oakland County is just one of many around Michigan as some county health departments and local hospitals release their own data in a patchwork. “It is understandable that people want as much data as possible, and government and others should work aggressively to provide that data,” said Matthew W. Seeger, dean and professor of Wayne State University’s Department of Communication. “They should do so with as much context as possible, and that’s really hard in a crisis situation.” It’s important that information is coming from trusted government sources, Seeger said, because a crisis creates an information void. That void can increase the chance of misinformation spreading. "Crisis creates an information vacuum which is going to be filled. It can be filled by subject matter experts and government officials, or it can be filled by your friend from high school,” Seeger said. He encouraged people to consult official sources like the CDC, and correct misinformation they may hear or see on social media.

Amid an outbreak where vaccines, drug treatments and even sufficient testing don’t yet exist, communication that is delivered early, accurately and credibly is the strongest medicine in the government’s arsenal. But the Trump administration’s zigzagging, defensive, inconsistent messages about the novel coronavirus continued Friday, breaking almost every rule in the book and eroding the most powerful weapon officials possess: Public trust.  “For those of us in this field, this is profoundly and deeply distressing,” said Matthew Seeger, a risk communication expert at Wayne State University who developed the CDC guidebook alongside many top doctors, public health researchers, scientists, consultants and behavioral psychologists. “It’s creating higher levels of anxiety, higher levels of uncertainty and higher levels of social disruption. … We spent decades training people and investing in developing this competency. We know how to do this.” Since taking office, Trump has ousted scientists, muzzled researchers and suppressed basic information on climate change. Public health officials worry that his erosion of public trust of science, coupled with the ongoing conflicting messaging between experts and politicians, is making it unclear whom the public should listen to. “I’m fearful we’ve continued to undermine our belief that subject matter experts are people we should listen to,” said Seeger. “We’ve done a good job over the last couple decades of undermining science and telling people scientists aren’t to be believed.”

Matthew Seeger, professor of communication and dean, College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, wrote an article for The Conversation discussing key principles that officials should use in coronavirus. “Infectious disease outbreaks have killed more people than hurricanes, wildfires or earthquakes. The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history, with death estimates ranging as high as 50 million worldwide. Almost 700,000 deaths occurred in the U.S.; in some cases, entire families died. Because these events are so outside our understanding of what is normal, they create high levels of uncertainty. We don’t know what is happening. And we don’t know what to do to avoid and mitigate the harm. Crises are also time-sensitive events that require quick decisions and actions to reduce and contain the harm. Delayed evacuations for hurricanes, for example, can lead to more deaths. Failure to issue advisories to boil water can result in disease outbreaks. Telling people what to do during a crisis - boil water, evacuate, shelter in place - is critical to limiting and containing the harm.”

Spreading as fast as the new coronavirus are half-truths, innuendo and downright dangerous lies around it, putting Michiganders’ health — as well as their wallets — at risk. One Michigan school district fought rumors that it shut down because of coronavirus. (It was a power outage.) A county health department faced accusations of hiding 800 potentially sick people in gypsum mines. (They weren’t.) And a hospital system was thought to confirm it had a patient with coronavirus. (It was a scam.) Meanwhile, the state health department is fielding calls from panicked residents, including one who wanted to know if he should destroy the Amazon package containing an office chair made in China. Matt Seeger, dean of Wayne State University’s College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, said he received this mail this week: Dr. Seeger, we would like you to participate in our efforts to prepare for coronavirus. Please click on this link. That email likely was designed to lure recipients into clicking the link, spreading malware into the computers or seeking personal information, he said. Seeger, a crisis communications specialist, said rumors can go beyond misleading or confusing; they can be downright dangerous. Some of the most harmful flimflam involves bogus preventative measures. There’s the dangerous claim, for example, that drinking bleach will prevent coronavirus. “If you drink bleach, you're going to the hospital,” Seeger said. “Maybe you won’t get coronavirus, but you’re going to be really, really sick.”

At a campaign rally this week in North Carolina, President Trump reassured the crowd that he had jawboned the nation’s pharmaceutical companies into quickly tackling the coronavirus. “They’re going to have vaccines, I think, relatively soon,” he said. But “soon” was correct only if it meant 12 to 18 months from now. Both health officials and drug industry executives have repeatedly told Trump that a vaccine was still a long way off. Yet by promising a vaccine “soon,” the president almost certainly misled at least some of the public into thinking a solution to the outbreak was just around the corner. In confronting the first major health crisis of his presidency, Trump has made himself the primary source of information to the public with mixed results. Appearing before cameras sometimes multiple times a day to talk about the coronavirus, he has offered a consistently rosier assessment of the situation than health experts and has put forth unproven or even false assertions. “I think it’s fair to say that President Trump has struggled, and that’s not surprising,” said Matthew Seeger, a dean at Wayne State University who has written extensively on crisis communications. “One of the real challenges we’ve seen is a tendency to over-reassure. There is a tendency for us to say, ‘Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine, don’t panic.’”

Armed with care packages, clothes and clinical supplies, medical students in Detroit are learning outside the classroom. They are putting their knowledge and boots to the pavement, providing free health care to the city's homeless. Each week, students under the supervision of a registered physician or nurse practitioner get on their bikes and look for those in need. Programs such as Michigan State University's Detroit Street Care, Wayne State University's Street Medicine Detroit and the University of Michigan's Wolverine Street Medicine work together to treat as many of the city's homeless as possible. Jedidiah Bell, a fourth-year med student at Wayne State University and president of Street Medicine Detroit, says seeing issues from lack of health care access in his home country of Zimbabwe made him want to participate. "When I moved to the states for university and medical school, I saw the similar things [lack of access] with the homeless population," said Bell. "When I saw street medicine, I appreciated the model of how can we take medical care to the street and build up trust to bridge the gap between the homeless and the medical world." While the programs provide a vital service to the community, Bell says the real-world experience teaches students things the classroom or clinic can't. "It teaches medical students to hone-in on, not just medical conditions of patients, but to be able to sit down and form relationships and discuss other things that might be contributing to [patients'] health but might not come up during a traditional medical encounter." Bell says there's a widespread belief that the "students take away more from people on the streets than they take away from us." Anneliese Petersen, a second-year medical student at Wayne State University and volunteer with Street Medicine Detroit, says the experience also shows upcoming medical professionals another side of health -- the social determinants. "Things that are not strictly medical-based but have a strong impact on health and well-being. Income, access to health care, access to medication, being able to eat well, sleep well, to be able to relax and not be under chronic stress."

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance at Wayne State University welcomes renowned Israeli choreographer Bosmat Nossan as the Fall 2019 Allesee Guest Artist-in-Residence, Oct.1 through 11. Nossan has performed her work internationally. She is the artistic director and founder of the Gaga teacher training program, a former dancer of the Batsheva Dance Company and the Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak Dance Company. Bosmat is a staff member of 'La Collectiz'- a graduate program for contemporary dancers. She was awarded with the Israel-America Cultural Foundation scholarship in 2004 and 2006, as well as the Remco award for promising artist in 2005, and a danceWEB scholarship in 2011. "This is a profound opportunity for our students and our community," says Meg Paul, director of dance for the department. "Having Ms. Nossan provide our students with her insight, artistry and experience is what makes the Allesee Guest Artist-in-Residence program such an integral part of our educational program. We are grateful to both Maggie Allesee, for whom the program is named thanks to her endowment, and to Ms. Nossan for making time to be with us."  

“I screwed up,” said ABC’s “Good Morning America” host Lara Spencer, speaking about mocking statements she made last week about Britain’s 6-year-old Prince George — eldest son of Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge — and his plans to take ballet at school. That segment was slammed on social media and quickly went viral. Last Friday, Spencer posted an apology on Instagram. In her on-air apology on Monday, Spencer went further, saying her comments were “insensitive and stupid, and I am deeply sorry.” Douglas Risner, a dance professor at Wayne State University who studies the stigmatizing of adolescent boys who dance, said in an interview Sunday that his inbox flooded with emails after Spencer’s report, and like those writers, he also found her segment appalling. She “underscored harmful stereotypes and signaled that harassment and bullying of boys who dance is acceptable. And she projected all of that on a defenseless child,” he said. “She implicated the father, too, implying that he’ll change his mind about this once harassment starts.” In a 2014 study of adolescent boys who dance in the United States, Risner found that 93 percent of his respondents experienced teasing and name-calling, and nearly 70 percent suffered verbal or physical abuse. Teen boys who dance “are at least seven times more likely than the general adolescent population to be bullied,” Risner said. “If this behavior concerned any other activity than dance,” he said, “it would be considered a public health crisis by the Centers for Disease Control.” Risner said bullying and the kind of belittling that Spencer expressed last week ends up excluding men from the field. He estimates that 75 percent of male dance students will quit before their 16th birthday. 

Exploring topics such as race, gender, sexuality, and mental health, members of the Freedom Players — an ensemble formed out of Wayne State University’s Black Theater and Dance Program — went no holds barred this month when they performed their honest and original play, I Am, at the Scotland-based Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The trip marked the first time WSU students have attended the month-long, city-wide celebration, and their play was one of more than 50,000 performances showcased during the festival’s run. Following their experience across the Atlantic Ocean, Hour Detroit spoke with Billicia Hines, artistic director of the Black Theatre and Dance Collective at WSU, about the decision to attend this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, how it felt to bring their heartfelt work to an international audience, and the unforgettable impression this experience has had on the young Freedom Players.                                                    

The first of two scheduled debates in Detroit among the wide field of Democratic presidential candidates proved long and feisty. The Free Press asked expert debate coaches for their spot analysis and hot takes on who among the initial group of 10 contenders triumphed or floundered Tuesday night on the Fox Theatre stage. Who won the performance? "If winner is defined as those who are going to move on to the September debates and have solidified their top 5 status, I would say (Massachusetts Senator) Elizabeth Warren and (South Bend mayor) Pete Buttigieg," said Kelly Young, director of forensics (speech and debate) at Wayne State University. Buttigieg "did a good job of framing (himself) as above the fray in a lot of the debates...he didn't have a lot of moments when he went at somebody on the stage, and he's talking about how we need an inter-generational change or these problems are just going to constantly replicate.” Who had the worst performance? Former U.S. Rep. John Delaney of Maryland. "I think he certainly lost. I think every time he went after one of them, particularly Elizabeth Warren, he lost badly. But maybe he is a candidate who benefits from any attention — good or bad,” Kelly said. Best moment or moments? “The back-and-forths between Warren versus Delaney. Also, the thoughtful answers from author Marianne Williamson. "She (Williamson) is the one candidate who I thought had the best discussion of Michigan when she talked about Flint, and then used that as a moment to expand on much deeper problems nationally."

Jack White received an honorary doctorate from Wayne State University during the Detroit college’s commencement event Friday. White, donning a cap and gown for the ceremony, was honored for his “dedication to the city of Detroit and significant contribution to the arts,” Wayne State president Roy Wilson said in his introduction. Wilson also detailed some of White’s philanthropic efforts in the city: His effort to restore Clark Park, how he saved the Masonic Temple from tax foreclosure and how his Third Man record plant helped revitalize midtown Detroit.

Musician and Detroit native Jack White received an honorary doctoral degree Friday from Wayne State University. He was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters during the morning commencement ceremony at the Fox Theatre. Wayne State bestowed the degree "for his dedication to Detroit and significant contributions to the arts as one of the most prolific and renowned artists of the past two decades." Jack White III was born and raised in southwest Detroit and was the youngest of 10 children. He graduated from Cass Tech High School. 

Wearing a cap and gown for the first time in his life, donned in the green-and-gold of Wayne State University, Jack White, the Detroit-bred rock musician was awarded an honorary degree during a Friday commencement at the Fox Theatre. "As a teenager, I was a busboy in this building, so it's nice to be back here for a different reason," White said during a brief speech after being conferred his doctor of humane letters by Kim Trent, a governor on the WSU board. 

Detroit's own Jack White, a singer, songwriter and business owner has added "doctor" to his list of titles. The White Stripes frontman received an honorary doctorate during Wayne State University's commencement ceremony on May 3. The school says the degree is for White's dedication to Detroit, and for his significant contributions to the arts. Born and raised in southwest Detroit, White graduated from Cass Technical High School, worked as an upholsterer and played in underground bands before founding The White Stripes. He has won 12 Grammy Awards and Rolling Stone recognized him as one of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."

The Detroit-born singer, songwriter and producer received an honorary doctorate of humane letters Friday from Wayne State University, which he briefly attended. The school cited “his dedication to Detroit and significant contributions to the arts.”