(WWJ) While more COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to be reported each day in Michigan, the numbers are trending down.
That's according to the latest update from the Michigan Department of Health Human and Human Services, which said there are 447 new cases of COVID-19 in Michigan, and 44* additional deaths as of Tuesday. That brings the totals to 44,397 cases and 4,179 deaths in the state since the pandemic began.
The hardest-hit area of the state remains the City of Detroit, which is counted separately. There are now 9,424 cases confirmed and 1,108 deaths in the city, the health department says.
Looking at the suburbs: The remainder of Wayne County has 7,967 cases and 837 deaths, Oakland County has 7,522 cases and 772 deaths, and Macomb County has 5,789 cases and 647 deaths.
The hardest-hit areas outside metro Detroit are Genesee County and Kent County. Genessee County — which includes the city of Flint — has 1,668 confirmed cases and 200 deaths. In Kent County, 1,914 people have been confirmed infected, the state said, but only 40 people have died. (See more county numbers on the map below).
A look at some more stats from the state:
- The oldest person to die was 107 years old, while the youngest was 5 years old.
- The average age of those who died is 74.9 years, while the median age is 76.
- Woman make up 53% of the cases and 46% of the deaths. Men total 46% of the cases and 54% of the deaths.
- 32% of the total cases and 41% of deaths are among African Americans, who make up 12% of Michigan's population.
- As of May 2, a total of 15,659 people are being reported as recovered in Michigan. The next update on that stat will come Saturday.
See the complete rundown of statistics by county AT THIS LINK.
The three main symptoms of coronavirus are fever, cough and shortness of breath. In order to mitigate risk of spreading COVID-19, everyone is encouraged to take action to reduce the spread, including: wash your hands often with soap and water or use hand sanitizer; avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands; cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing; avoid handshakes; avoid contact with people who are sick; and stay home when you are sick. Officials are urging social distancing -- staying at least six feet away from other people -- to help flatten the curve.
State health officials have said COVID-19 testing "has doubled" in the state, and is now open to first responders, health care workers and all essential employees — even those who do not have symptoms. Testing is also available to anyone in Michigan who has even just mild symptoms. FIND A TESTING SITE HERE,
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*A note from state officials on deaths (05/05/20): Regular reviews of death certificate data maintained in Vital Records reporting systems are conducted by MDHHS staff three times per week. As a part of this process, records that identify COVID-19 infection as a contributing factor to death are compared against all laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Michigan Disease Surveillance System (MDSS). If a death certificate is matched to a confirmed COVID-19 case and that record in the MDSS does not indicate the individual died, the MDSS record is updated to indicate the death and the appropriate local health department is notified. These matched deaths are then included with mortality information posted to the Michigan Coronavirus website. As a result of the most recent assessment, today's data includes 8 additional deaths identified by this methodology.
