As omicron COVID-19 cases skyrocket in Michigan, hospitalizations are increasing as well – although at a far slower rate – and prompting concerns about capacity. Even though the variant is mild for most, the wave has increased hospital admissions statewide by 400 in one week, a 10% rise, while forcing hundreds of critical health care workers to quarantine. Just a few weeks after hospitalizations dropped from a peak of nearly 4,800 patients, the health care system is girding again for another COVID-19 crunch, which may be less lethal but could tax its ability to provide care. On Monday the state reported 61,235 new infections for the past five days, an average of 12,247. For the past week, the daily average of 12,442 is up 65% from the previous week’s average of 7,533 daily cases. Dr. Teena Chopra, director of the Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases and a professor at Wayne State University School of Medicine works with local hospitals and said that although a smaller fraction of those who get infected are requiring hospital care, the previously unseen scale of infections is still leading to hundreds of people sick enough to require a hospital visit, especially in Detroit which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the state. “The sheer numbers are so huge, the hospitals are getting overwhelmed,” Dr. Chopra said.

The United States is experiencing a shortage of more than 80,000 truck drivers, according to an estimate from the American Trucking Associations. The ATA also estimates that 72% of America’s freight transport moves by trucks, which shows just how dependent consumers are on the drivers who deliver turkeys to sores or gas to pumps or the Christmas presents you order to your doorstep. This is not just an American problem. Truck haul comparable amounts of freight in places like the European Union and China, and countries and regions around the world, are experiencing driver shortages. This is also not a new problem. Analysts and industry groups have warned of truck driver shortages for years, around the globe. But supply chain disruptions during the pandemic and surges in demand have made this slow-rolling crisis much more acute. The first thing to know about the truck driver shortage, experts say, is that it’s not exactly a shortage. “It’s a recruitment and retention problem,” said Michael Belzer, a trucking industry expert and professor at Wayne State University. “There are in fact millions of truck drivers – people who have commercial driver’s licenses – who are not driving trucks and are not using those commercial driving licenses, more than we would even need,” Belzer said. “That’s because people have gotten recruited into this job, maybe paid to get trained in this job, and realize, ‘This is not for me. This is not adequate for what I’m doing.’”  

Poco Kernsmith, professor, Erin B. Comartin, assistant professor, and Sheryl Kubiak, dean and professor, from the Wayne State University School of Social Work, have studied women who have been convicted of sexual assault, abuse and human trafficking, as well as public attitudes toward sex offenders. These scholars wrote an article outlining key takeaways about female sex offenders present in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial and verdict. The British socialite has been convicted for her role in luring and grooming girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was found guilty of five counts, including sex trafficking a minor, and now faces a maximum sentence of 65 years behind bars. Maxwell’s trial provided an opportunity for victims of Epstein and Maxwell to give testimony about the abuse they experienced, and the case also highlights the importance of understanding sex offenses perpetrated by women.  

The Wayne State University College of Nursing has received a $1.6 million grant from the state Department of Health and Human Services to educate more mental health and psychiatric nurse practitioners. Umeika Stephens, graduate specialty coordinator for psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners at Wayne State University and a psychiatric nurse practitioner in Detroit, said it is important to have providers who can assess patients’ mental health needs holistically.  “Our goal is to make sure that when patients are able to come in, that they’re able to see a psychiatric nurse practitioner,” Stephens said. “They’re able to see somebody who can not only do therapy, but also prescribe medication for them if they needed it.”  

By Darren Cunningham  The interest in keeping up with COVID and its variants varies from person to person. Some opt to just follow the protocols; others want to know the science behind the severity and transmissibility. Scientists say the newest strain, omicron, spreads quicker than delta but is less severe. Doctors, including Dr. Phillip Levy, a professor of emergency medicine and researcher at Wayne State University, said it's important to keep in mind most of the studies on omicron so far have been conducted in South Africa, a different population with younger people being infected. “So, when you say, ‘could it be more severe?’ It wouldn’t be more severe because omicron itself becomes something different. I mean that could happen, and it may create a new severe variant which would have a new Greek alphabet naming structure. But omicron itself, we still just don’t know what it’s going to do when it hits our population,” said Dr. Levy.

By Malachi Barrett  Culture war controversy surrounding critical race theory gained new ammunition when a Detroit superintendent acknowledged the concept’s influence on anti-racist efforts in his school district. Conservative activists in Michigan and across the country packed school board meetings this year to denounce the teaching of critical race theory – a graduate-level academic framework that examines how racial groups are affected differently by legal systems and institutions. School officials assert CRT is not part of any curriculum in Michigan, but educators are making commitments to understand their own biases and provide students with a wider view of history. Truman Hudson, a professor of teacher education at Wayne State University, said conversations around CRT have become messy because the term is applied too broadly. Critical race theory is a way of thinking about history, Hudson said, and examining the role of race, class, and gender. Hudson said some of the confusion stems from educators themselves, who also conflate CRT with course material. “This is one lens that we can take to explore historic events in this country,” Hudson said. “The unfortunate part is when you start talking about race, it gets misconstrued that it’s CRT, but it doesn’t have to be. The reality is that race is a concern in this country with or without the framework of CRT.”  

Wayne State University announced that classes for the Winter 2022 semester will begin online, as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, largely due to the omicron variant. The measure is temporary, and classes are scheduled to return to in-person formats on Monday, January 31. The university has also instituted a COVID-19 vaccine booster mandate. 

By Ethan Bakuli  Chronic absenteeism rose significantly for Detroit district students last year as families continued to deal with financial, logistical, and health ramifications of the COVID pandemic. A new Wayne State report shows that 70% of Detroit students were chronically absent – missing 10% or last school year – compared with 62% in 2018-2019. About 54% were described as severely chronically absent, meaning they missed 20% or more of the year. The report comes from a representative survey of more than 800 Detroit families as well as student attendance records and administrative data provided by the Detroit school district. At the core of the study’s results, according to Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, an assistant professor of education at Wayne State, are the ongoing social and economic barriers that chronically absent students face, particularly the difficult choices that families are forced to make in order to meet the expectation of good attendance without an adequate kind of social support structure. “We talked to families who had to quit their jobs to make sure their kids are in schools,” Lenhoff said. “Maybe their child’s attendance is better, but then they’re unemployed, and they’re not making any money.”  

Wayne State University officials announced that boosters will be required for all students, faculty and staff beginning Jan. 3. In a letter to the campus community, school officials said the decision was prompted by the alarming spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant. Recently, both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University made similar decisions. The Campus Health Center is offering all vaccines and boosters, with several booster clinics scheduled in the near future. 

Wayne Health has been hosting drive-through clinics on Mack Avenue to provide monoclonal antibody treatments, which can be the difference between life and death for those most vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19. But amid Michigan’s worst-yet coronavirus surge, there’s not enough supply of monoclonal antibodies nor are there enough health care workers to administer them. “COVID testing and vaccinations remain our pillar, but we’re also very heavily engaged in monoclonal antibody infusions, which are a great way to prevent people who do contract COVID – particularly high-risk individuals – from getting sick to the point where they require hospitalization or at risk for dying,” said Dr. Phillip Levy, professor of emergency at Wayne State University, chief innovation officer for Wayne Health, and assistant vice president for research. Levy said when the virus attacks the body, it’s like an internal war in which coronavirus particles are the invaders pitted against the antibody soldiers a person’s immune system has called to defend it. “The monoclonal antibodies basically are a pharmaceutical version of the antibodies your body would produce anyway to fight off the virus. And by taking these antibodies and sort of bolstering your natural immune system, you get more soldiers, more fighters against the virus,” said Dr. Levy.  

Hilary Marusak, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Wayne State University, wrote an article sharing an explanation of the impact exercise has on the body’s natural cannabinoids and the associated benefits for mental health and stress relief. The “runner’s high” has long been attributed to endorphins, but research from Marusak’s lab found that exercise reliably increases levels of the body’s endocannabinoids – which are molecules that work to maintain balance in the brain and body – in a process called “homeostasis.” This natural chemical boost may better explain some of the beneficial effects of exercise on brain and body.  

City leaders in Detroit say they’ve got proof that the city was severely undercounted in the 2020 Census, meaning Detroit likely missed out on tens of millions of dollars in future federal funding. Mayor Mike Duggan and researchers with Wayne State University and the University of Michigan outlined evidence during a press conference Thursday suggesting the city may have been undercounted by about 8%. The report used data from the United States Postal Service and a Wayne State audit of 10 block groups in the city shows the census may have missed about 964 residents in those areas alone.  

Electric vehicle maker Rivian confirmed its plans to build a $5 billion assembly plant and battery factory in Georgia, which Governor Brian Kemp called the largest single economic development project in the state’s history. Rivian plans to employ 7,500 workers at its factory, a jobs tally state officials have said could grow to 10,000. The plant will be built about an hour east of Atlanta, with construction slated to begin next summer and production at the factory expected to begin in 2024. Georgia beat out Texas and several other states for the factory. While Rivian might be well-financed and valued highly by Wall Street, the company faces several challenges to meet its goals. The company first must deliver quality vehicles, build its capacity to services the vehicles it sells and fend off EV competition from rivals such as Tesla, GM, Ford and Volkswagen, said John C. Taylor, a professor of supply chain management at Wayne State University. “Whether Rivian will get a significant share of (the future EV market), the jury is still out,” Taylor said.  

Santa made a recent visit to Detroit to spread holiday cheer and help encourage community members to get vaccinated. A Wayne Health Mobile Unit provided COVID-19 vaccines, as well as flu shots and other screenings, at the pop-up clinic at Saunders Memorial A.M.E. Church. The event also featured ice sculptures and food.  

By Hani Barghouthi  Gun violence survivors, educators and students gathered on Sunday at a community healing event in downtown Oxford. The event, which was focused on offering mental health resources and resources to the Oxford community and others who were affected by the shooting, was organized by the Michigan chapter of March for Our Lives, a youth-led organization dedicated to gun violence prevention, and the Detroit Area Youth Uniting Michigan, a youth-led social and economic justice organization. Some the support comes from the Mental Health and Wellness Center and the Family and Mental Wellness Lab at Wayne State University, which has been providing in-person and telehealth therapeutic services to people in Metro Detroit who have been affected by the Oxford High shooting. “The kids we’ve spoken to are having a very wide range of feelings, and their feelings are changing all the time,” said Dr. Erika Bockneck, a professor of educational psychology at Wayne State University. “They’re experiencing grief and loss, then the next day they might be feeling really angry. And then there are some days where they’re kids, and I think they’re just not sure what to feel.” In addition to direct counseling, Bocknek and other counselors at the center are working with the Mala Child and Family Institute in Plymouth to develop a free text service where they send out messages of support and information about trauma response.  

In 2011, Michigan implemented a tough new teacher evaluation system in which educators’ annual job reviews were based partly on the standardized test scores of their students. The plan seemed straight-forward: Reward good teachers, weed out bad ones and Michigan’s moribund learning would improve. A decade later, that experiment is generally considered a failure by educators, policymakers and researchers, and there’s an effort now to change the state’s teacher evaluation system, or at least pause it, until schools return to normal after the pandemic. Before the reform, determining which teachers were superstars was nearly impossible, because virtually all teachers were rated as effective. The teacher accountability measures were seen as a way to allow schools – and families – to distinguish great teachers from the average ones. “It was seen as a potential reform that could make a big difference and improve equitable outcomes,” said Sarah Lenhoff, associate professor of educational leadership at Wayne State University. “It was bipartisan, and had broad support from the education advocacy community.”  

Poco Kernsmith, a professor in Wayne State University’s School of Social Work, conducts research around sexual violence prevention and shares her view on the nature and prevalence of female sexual abusers as the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell continues for her alleged role in the sexual abuse and trafficking of young girls with Jeffrey Epstein. Kernsmith says that crime statistics show that the majority of sexual abusers are male, but that national surveys of victimization show rates of female perpetration are six to ten times higher than reports to law enforcement would indicate. Arrest and conviction rates likely underrepresent the number of female sex offenders, because those who have been assaulted by a woman are less likely to report the abuse, and when abuse is reported, women are less likely to be arrested and convicted. When women are accused of sexual offenses, they are frequently accused of participating in abuse with a male co-offender, like the case involving Maxwell and Epstein.

Dr. Sarah Kiperman, assistant professor of educational psychology and a child psychologist at Beaumont Health, shares advice on how families can help children deal with trauma and talk about tragedies such as the Oxford High School shooting. “The first thing, and the easiest thing, we can do is check in with them – ask your kids directly how they’re doing and if they want to talk about anything…When we do notice changes in their behavior, their appearance or how they’re eating and sleeping – those are things to be looking out for.” 

As Congress seeks solutions to a supply chain crisis that’s keeping shelves empty and consumers frustrated this holiday season, one suggestion keeps recurring: Address the trucker shortage. The American Trucking Association says there’s a need to fill 80,000 trucker jobs to satisfy America’s demand to move freight. The association asserts the jobs pay well, but that there have not been enough quality candidates. That theory stands in stark contrast to the views of an organization representing independent drivers, as well as those of at least four academics who study the industry, who say there isn’t really a shortage at all. Michael Belzer, a professor of economics at Wayne State University, said the issue is a direct outgrowth of the 1980 decision to deregulate interstate trucking. He said deregulation and the resulting collapse of Teamster representation of most truckers led to declining wages and poor job conditions that have effectively pushed drivers out of the industry. “It’s true, they can’t get drivers,” he said. “That’s not a shortage. If you don’t pay minimum wage, you shouldn’t be shocked that you can’t hire drivers.”  

A federal corruption probe into the United Auto Workers has led to an overhaul of the union’s elections, potentially bringing an end to a more than 70-year leadership dynasty under which recent leaders accepted bribes and embezzled millions in members’ dues and fees. UAW members and retirees voted to change the union’s process of electing leaders from a weight, delegate-based system to a direct, or “one member, one vote,” election, according to preliminary results published be a court-appointed UAW monitor. Both the monitor and vote, which still needs to be certified, were results of a settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and union to end a corruption investigation that sent 15 people to prison, including two recent UAW presidents and three Fiat Chrysler executives. Officials say it’s unclear how the new voting system will impact companies with workers represented by the UAW, specifically the Detroit automakers. The impact of the new election system on UAW members as well as companies depends on how the new process is implemented, according to Frank Goeddeke, a senior lecturer in management at Wayne State University. “The devil is always in the details, so that can affect how this is going to play out,” he said. “I do think that with the one member, one vote, that the officers will be more cognizant of how the membership is going to feel about certain things that they do.”