(WWJ) More than 60,000 Michiganders are now considered survivors of the coronavirus.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) reports 60,022 residents have recovered from COVID-19 after living 30 days following their first positive test. This includes everyone diagnosed on or before July 1.
State health officials reported 735 new cases Saturday. 7 more people who have tested positive for the virus have died. Four of those deaths were identified through a Vital Record Review process of matching positive COVID-19 tests to death certificates.
MDHHS data shows 85% (5,313) of the 6,206 Michiganders who lost their life to the virus were over the age of 60, and 42% (2,640) were over the age of 80.
The 20-29 age group accounts for about 15% (13,061) of Michigan’s total cases, but .4% (28) of the state’s total deaths.
The highest number of cases is in the 50 to 59 age group, accounting for about 16% of the state’s cases (13, 359) and 8% (506) of the state’s total deaths.
A total of 82,356 residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to MDHHS.
While the state has recently seen an uptick in cases; the number of people hospitalized is about one tenth of what it was at the pandemic's peak.
The MDHHS reports 434 people are currently hospitalized statewide with a confirmed case of COVID-19. That is about 2.6% of the nearly 16,130 Michiganders actively battling COVID-19.
144 Michigan residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 are on ventilators and 229 are in “critical care.” Overall hospital capacity is at 74% statewide including all patients regardless of their COVID status, according to the MDHHS.
In mid-April, the state reported more than 4,000 people were hospitalized with the virus.
Nevertheless, CDC Director Robert Redfield said in an interview with “Good Morning America:” “This (COVID-19) is the greatest public health crisis our nation has witnessed in more than a century.”
Redfield urged all Americans to embrace the face mask.
“We’re not defenseless,” Redfield told GMA. “We have powerful tools. Probably the most powerful tool we have is a simple face mask.”
Michigan has a mask mandate under Governor Whitmer’s Executive Order to wear a face covering in indoor public spaces and crowded outdoor spaces where social distancing is not possible, unless a person has a medical condition that makes him or her unable to do so. Under Whitmer's order, a business must ask why a customer is not wearing a mask, rather than simply assuming someone is medically exempt.
Michigan’s Chief Medical Executive, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, emphasizes that masks work.
“We know if 2 people are wearing masks, the percentage of spreading COVID-19 goes into the single digits,” Khaldun said during a townhall interview with Fox 2. “Everybody should be masked up.”
Michigan’s coronavirus fatality rate stands at 7.5%, down from about 10% earlier this spring.