(WWJ) The rate of new infections has dropped around 25% over the past week, health officials say, as Michigan continues its battle vs. the coronavirus.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday reported there are 469 new cases of COVID-19 in Michigan, and 90* new deaths. That brings the totals to 48,021 cases and 4,674 deaths statewide throughout the pandemic.
Looking at cases by county: The remainder of Wayne County has 8,377 cases and 927 deaths, Macomb County has 6,097 cases and 710 deaths, and Oakland County reports 7,784 cases and 872 deaths as of Tuesday. Health officials, meanwhile, are keeping an eye on a few communities on the west side of the state, where numbers have been trending up a bit. (Take a look at more county numbers on the map below).
These latest counts come as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer continues to enact her six-phase plan to slowly reopen the state's economy. This week, automotive and other manufacturing businesses were permitted to get back to work.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci — the nation’s top infectious disease expert — on Tuesday warned Congress that if the country reopens too soon during the coronavirus pandemic, it will result in “needless suffering and death." (Read the latest from Dr. Fauci here).
Nationwide, the numbers show newly discovered cases have fallen below 20,000 for the first time since March, before the states begin to implement countermeasures.
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.
Health officials say Michigan is now performing 14,000 tests per-day, with the goal is to test 450,000 residents in May. Testing 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.
Michiganders should note that both the state of emergency and stay-home order — which Whitmer is now calling "Safer at Home" order — remains in effect through May 28.
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*A note the death count from the health department (05/12/20): 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 19 additional deaths identified by this methodology.