(COLDWATER) – The Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency has rescinded their quarantine order.

In a media release, CHA Health Officer Rebecca Burns says the order, which was issued on September 22, was rescinded as of 12 AM Friday. The announcement was first made Thursday during a special meeting of the CHA Health Board.

The rescinding of the order comes after the 2022 Fiscal Year budget was signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, which included Senate Bill 68. That bill would take away funding from local health departments that issues an emergency COVID-19 order. Burns says if the CHA did not rescind the quarantine order, they could have lost approximately $1 million in state funding.

Under the quarantine order, a parent could have their child do a ten day quarantine, a seven day quarantine with a negative test, or their child could stay in school if they wore a mask and participated in daily testing.

In the release, the CHA said that while local health departments are not able to enact public health orders to protect against COVID-19 without jeopardizing funding, educational institutions, businesses and individuals, they can institute mitigation factors that help to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. That includes quarantining people that have had a close contact, requiring masks be worn indoors, getting vaccinated when eligible and keeping sick people at home.