April begins with a continued litany of loss.
State data shows 1,719 more pandemic patients and 78 additional deaths since Tuesday. It’s the largest amount of new Michigan cases so far.
The statewide number of COVID-19 diagnoses now is 9,334 and fatalities total 337.
Detroit has 2,080 cases and at least 75 deaths, according to the state. (City figures, compiled separately, list 2,472 cases and 83 deaths.)
(Graphic: Michigan Department oif Health and Human Services)
The number of cases includes patients no longer hospitalized and not still affected, in some instances. Those figures aren’t released by the Department of Health and Human Services
Wednesday’s overall tally includes 6,179 patients from the three-county Detroit area (66.2% of the total). The metro area has at least 228 deaths (67.6%) from the lung infection caused by coronavirus.
Confirmed cases statewide are 22.5% higher than Tuesday, a larger rate of increase than the previous three days.
Michigan patients are 25 to 107 years old, with a median age of 71.
Here's how confirmed virus cases and deaths break down in suburban Detroit counties:
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Oakland: 1,591 cases | 70 deaths
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Wayne: 1,655 cases | 45 deaths
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Macomb: 853 cases | 38 deaths
The state says 25,711 COVID tests have been performed, with 6,150 (24%) positive results confirming respiratory infection.
Prediction: 1,000 to 4,500 state deaths
The hard-hit tri-county area comprises 66% of the state's total cases and 67.6 percent of its deaths.
Oakland County and Detroit saw their death tolls spike early this week. Oakland executive Dave Coulter said called it the beginning of “the most challenging week yet.” Predictive modeling cited by the Trump administration suggests Michigan may see its caseload peak on April 8 and deaths peak April 11, but Michigan's chief medical executive, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, has said cases will likely be on the rise for several more weeks.
The model, out of the University of Washington, suggests the state's death toll will fall between 1,000 and 4,500.
Here are additional updates as of Wednesday afternoon:
♦ Flint has a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, starting Thursday night. "We must safeguard ourselves," says Mayor Sheldon Neeley, who imposed it to get stay-home order scofflaws off the streets, WSMH-TV reports. Only those providing or obtaining essential services authorized by the governor are exempt. The nightly curfew lasts at least 30 days.
♦ Michigan is sending half of the 400 ventilators in a federal shipment to Detroit-area hospitals, The Detroit News says, citing a state health agency spokeswoman. Hospitals in Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties are due to get 100 ventilators. Another 100 go to Wayne, Washtenaw and Monroe counties.
Residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb account for 81% of Michigan’s confirmed cases of COVID-19.
♦ Video meetings are the new way to conduct business, but a local council that lets the public join in is having trouble some with trolls. The Detroit News reports racist and vulgar comments brought a meeting of the Grosse Ile Board of Trustees to an abrupt close Monday night. One person asked "Should I avoid Chinese people?" and another introduced himself as "Dan D---head."
"It's like vandalism," Township Supervisor Brian Loftus said of the so-called "Zoom-bombing." "It serves no public good. I'd say it was juvenile, but I don't want to insult young people."
♦ "We’ll be announcing something on Thursday” about whether this public school year is over, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tells MLive. She previous shut classrooms statewide untill April 14 and reportedly plans to extend that through June 30.
♦ The state attorney general's office confirms what police, deputies and troopers assume: Officers can't stop drivers on suspicion of violating Michigan's stay-at-home order. "The lone act of driving ... doesn't satisfy probable cause for a traffic stop," an official opinion memo says this week, the Freep reports.
♦ With ridership down 80%, the SMART suburban transit line sharply cut service a second time in recent weeks. Buses will run on highly trafficked roads such as Woodward and Gratiot avenues every hour, staggered with local routes, so riders should see buses every 30 minutes, a release says. It's also dropping its commuter routes to and from downtown Detroit to once daily, and ending shuttles to Somerset Collection and Oakland Mall, both in Troy.
♦ Carhartt joins the list of companies repurposing operations in a wartime-like effort to fight coronavirus. The Dearborn-based workwear brand said Tuesday that it would produce 50,000 gowns and 2.5 million masks for frontline health workers starting in April. Employees will do the job on a volunteer basis at plants in Tennessee and Kentucky. The company tells Crain's it has idled cutting and sewing facilities as stay-home orders dry up retail sales, but that it's still paying employees.
♦ Wish you could see this crisis through the eyes of a child? The first installment of our new "Virus Diary" series comes from an 11-year-old Birmingham girl who's staying entertained with help from a new rescue puppy. The series features select reflections from Metro Detroiters. Please send submissions to admin@deadlinedetroit.com.
