(WWJ) Michigan has recorded its first 200-in-a-day jump in COVID-19 deaths.
The grim new numbers, released Friday afternoon, show the state has 22,783 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with a total of 1,281 related deaths statewide. The official count from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services includes 1,279 new cases and at least 205 additional deaths since the last report Thursday,
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer noted the continued incline in a tweet:
"Since I addressed the public yesterday afternoon, more than 200 people have died due to COVID-19. This is the highest number of COVID-19 deaths we have had in one day to date. These people were husbands, wives, grandparents, sons, and daughters. We are not out of the woods yet," she wrote.
This makes Friday the fifth day in a row that Michigan reported more then 100 more deaths from COVID-19. (See map for number of confirmed cases by county).
On the topic of recovery: The state health department says, as of April 3, a total of 56 people who tested positive in the state have officially recovered. The "recovered" figure is defined by the number of people with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis who are alive 30 days post-onset (or referral date, if onset is not available). The numbers will be updated every Saturday, the state said.
See more stats HERE, including counts by age and sex. Get detailed information on testing HERE.
Speaking live on WWJ Newsradio 950 Friday morning, Whitmer told Roberta Jasina and Tom Jordan that she knows it's difficult for people to maintain social distance for an extended time. But it has to be done. The governor's advice: "We have to grit our teeth and get through the next three weeks."
Whitmer on Thursday signed an executive order extending her "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order through April 30, 2020, with the goal of slowing the spread of the virus.
At that news conference she clarified that Michiganders are not to be traveling for vacation during this time, and that people are discouraged from going back and forth between second homes in other areas of the state.
On the hot topic of golf, Whitmer's not budging.
"Golf, landscaping...I've heard these seem to be the ones that we hear the most from the Legislature, some of the Republican legislators. You know, it's not critical infrastructure. IT's just not," Whitmer said, at a news conference Thursday. "They are not necessary to sustain life, and to be candid, just by engaging in it can expose people to risk, serious risk."
