(WWJ) Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter is optimistic about the county's battle against the COVID-19 outbreak.
In a post on Facebook, Coulter announced he thinks Oakland County "passed the peak of the pandemic….in Mid-April."
According to data posted by the Oakland County Health Department; the largest number of coronavirus cases diagnosed on a single day was 397 on April 4. The highest death toll, 39, occurred on April 7.
Oakland County officials recorded 41 new cases and no new deaths on Saturday.
The empty beds at the county's only surge capacity hospital, The Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, may be proof that Oakland County has 'flattened its curve.'
"We knew we needed it for the worst-case scenario," Coulter said in an interview on CBS's Michigan Matters on Sunday.
"The good news is our hospital systems are in better shape," Coulter told host Carol Cain, "They still have a lot of COVID patients there, but they are not experiencing the capacity they were two or three weeks ago."
He said there are only a "few" patients at The Suburban Collection Showplace. County officials may start to look for other uses for the 250 bed facility such as isolating COVID-19 positive patients from long-term care facilities there, according to Coulter.
The county has a total of 7,474 cases. The hardest hit areas are Southfield and Oak Park.
Zip code 48237 (Oak Park) has the greatest number of total cases in the county with 481 cases and 46 deaths.
It is followed by 48076 (Southfield) with 443 cases and 58 deaths. This zip code also contains Lathrup Village.
Rural areas in the far north and west side of the county are less hard hit, including Highland Twp., Milford, and Leonard.
You can see the color-coded map by zip code here.
737 Oakland County residents have died from the virus. The highest death toll was among people in their eighties at 209.
190 residents in their seventies passed away.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported cases in about two thirds of the 48 long term care facilities in the county, with 96% reporting. You can see a complete list here.
Coulter announced during Thursday's press conference a widespread effort to conduct mass testing at independent senior living facilities in partnership with EMS.
The incidence of death was more than three times higher for males under 60 compared to females in Oakland County.
*50-59 years old.
Male-27
Female-8
*40-49 years old
Male-17
Female-4
*30-39 years old
Male-4
Female-0
*20 and younger:
Male-1
Female-0
The male to female fatality ratio begins to even out above 70 years old. You can get a closer look at the graph here.
However, more females were diagnosed with the virus than males across all age groups.
Thousands of Oakland County residents are winning their battle against COVID-19.
4,176 people are considered recovered from the virus after surviving 30 days post diagnosis.
