Confirmed coronavirus cases now top 5,000 in Michigan, with 132 dead, including 25-year-old WMU student
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Steve Neavling
Detroit Medical Center.
The number of positive coronavirus case in Michigan increased to 5,486, with 132 total deaths.
Michigan identified 836 new infections and 21 new deaths on Sunday. Among the deaths was a 25-year-old Western Michigan University student, who is the youngest to die so far from the coronavirus in Michigan. His sister said he was denied a coronavirus test.
Of the state’s 83 counties in Michigan, 58 have tested positive cases.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Michigan now ranks fourth in the nation in total confirmed cases after reporting 1,829 new cases over the weekend, trailing California, New Jersey, and New York.
The exponential increase in cases is creating a significant challenge for hospitals, which are reaching capacity and running out of ventilators, beds, and personal protection gear like gloves, masks, hospital gowns, and hand sanitizer. Public health officials are looking for alternative sites to treat COVID-19 patients. The TCF Center (formerly Cobo Hall) will serve as a makeshift hospital for up to 900 overflow patients.
A University of Washington analysis predicts Michigan’s death toll will peak on April 9 and will surpass 4,000 by Aug. 4.
With a severe shortage in testing kit, deaths are considered the strongest indicator of the direction of the outbreak.
New cases and deaths are slowing a little in Detroit, which has become a national "hot spot" and "will have a worse week next week," U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Friday on "CBS This Morning." It’s too early to tell whether the slower growth is indicative of a larger trend.
Mayor Mike Duggan said he expects exponential growth to continue next week.
Making up 6.7% of Michigan's population, Detroit has 26.5% of the coronavirus deaths and 28% of the confirmed infections.
On Sunday, Detroit reported 205 new confirmed infections, bringing its total cases to 1,542. With five new deaths, the city's death toll reached 35.
A disproportionate number of confirmed infections and deaths are in metro Detroit.
Wayne County now has 2,704 positive cases and 56 deaths. In Oakland County, there are 1,170 positive cases and 34 deaths. Macomb County now has 620 confirmed infections and 20 deaths.
Of the total cases, 1% are among patients 0 to 19 years old, 9% are 20 to 29, 13% are 30 to 39, 17% are 40 to 49, 20% are 50 to 59, 19% are 60 to 69, 14% are 70 to 79, and 8% are 80 and older.
The death rate is far higher for men, who make up 69% of the fatalities but 50% of the positive cases.
Those who have died range in age from 25 to 97. The average age for deaths is 64.4, with a median age of 65.
Globally, there were more than 710,000 coronavirus cases in 177 countries, and 33,551 deaths as of Sunday afternoon, according to John Hopkins University & Medicine. The U.S. now has more positive cases than any country in the world, with 135,499 confirmed infections and 1,841 deaths.
Metro Times
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