(WWJ) Michigan is reporting more than 8,500 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 35 new deaths.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) said 8,516 residents have tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours
An additional 83 deaths were also newly identified through a vital records review process of matching positive coronavirus tests to death certificates; adding 118 to the total death toll.
2,868 adults and 19 children are hospitalized statewide with a confirmed case of the virus. 660 adults are in the ICU with COVID-19 and 272 are on ventilators.
Spectrum Health System in West Michigan said the situation is getting serious at its hospitals.
"The reality is that Spectrum Health and our hospitals across the state will be hitting their capacity in a matter of days," CEO Tina Freese Decker said, during a virtual press conference.
Decker said about 1 in 10 people who come into their hospitals with the virus pass away.
“What we're seeing in our hospitals is that COVID-19 is affecting all groups, young and old, cutting across all populations," Decker said.
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Metro Detroit health systems—Beaumont and Henry Ford—have reported a similar troubling trend.
COVID-19 hospitalizations statewide are five times higher than they were six weeks ago. See more on hospitalization numbers, capacity here.
Michigan has lost 7,929 people to this virus.
242 were between the age of 40 and 49; 618 were between 50 and 59; 1,347 between 60 and 69; 2,138, 70 to 79; and 3,477 over the age of 80.
Over 100 Michiganders under the age of 40 have passed away from COVID-19.
The statewide fatality rate is 3.2%, a dramatic decrease from close to 10% in March and April.
State health officials are beseeching Michiganders to wear a mask, to wash their hands often for at least 20 seconds, and avoid gatherings and unnecessary outings. To learn more about how you can protect yourself, click here.
“This is the moment that medical experts have been warning about and dreading since the pandemic began.” Governor Gretchen Whitmer said during a press conference Thursday.
She called it the “worst part of the pandemic.”
A piece of good news could be on the horizon though: President Donald Trump said in a Rose Garden press conference Friday that at least one vaccine is "weeks away."
One of the vaccines he is referring to is the Pfizer vaccine, which was found to be 90% effective in a late-stage trial, according to the pharmaceutical company.
Mr. Trump said the vaccine is slated to be distributed first to frontline workers; people who are elderly; or who have pre-existing conditions that put them at high risk of complications from the virus.
“Help really is on the way. The cavalry is coming,” The nation’s top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said in an interview on Good Morning America. “Vaccines are going to have a major positive impact. They’re going to start being deployed in early December. As we get into early next year, its going to be January, February, March, more and more people are going to get vaccinated. So if we can just hang in there, do the public health measures, we are going to get this under control.”
Here in Michigan, close to 129,000 Michiganders are considered recovered after surviving 30 days post testing positive for coronavirus.
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