Update, 10:51 a.m. Monday: Michigan's chief medical executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, said Michigan is "several weeks" from a peak in cases, longer than an the April 8 date a study predicted (see story below).
"We are still in the early stages of spread in Michigan and cases have not yet peaked," Khaldun said at a Lansing press conference.
She, along with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, said there remains a big shortage of ventilators, masks, beds and healthcare workers.
Separately, Detroit's Health Department says it recorded 1,804 positive cases of COVID-19 and 50 deaths as of noon Monday, according to The Detroit News.
Original article, Sunday night:
The University of Washington has a dire warning for this state.
Researchers estimate Michigan hospitals will hit peak coronavirus demand on April 8, and the state will be about 10,563 hospital beds short that day, Beth LeBlanc of The Detroit News reports.
The study, published Thursday by the Institute for Heath Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington medical school, predicts the state will need about 1,785 ventilators at that peak date. It currently has about 1,622 at hospitals.
In anticipation of a shortage of beds, FEMA is creating a 900-bed field hospital at TCF Center, formerly Cobo Center, in downtown Detroit. The city is considered one of the hotspots around the nation. And Michigan's 6,498 patients (as of Monday) rank fourth behind New York, New Jersey and California for confirmed cases.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday told CNN the situation in Detroit is “dire” and “getting worse by the minute.”
