Wayne County's 1,148 Covid deaths are 5th among U.S. counties; state cases rise just 1.8%

Vivid evidence of Detroit's status as a Covid epicenter comes from data updated daily by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Its Coronavitrus Resource Center, which maps pandemic hotspots nationally and globally, lists 50 U.S. counties with the most confirmed cases and 20 with the largest number of deaths.

Wayne County ranks fifth in deaths (1,148 as of Monday) and ninth in lung virus cases (13,912) since counting began in mid-March.

The top four are New York City boroughs.

Four of New York City's five boroughs are the only counties with higher death tolls. The counties containing Chicago, Newark, Los Angeles and Philadelphia each has lost fewer residents to Covid than Wayne has.

Confirmed diagnoses in Wayne outnumber those in counties with these cities: Los Angeles, Newark, Miami and Philadelphia.

Detroit accounts for most of both categories, though these Monday afternoon figures show rest of Wayne also is hard-hit by infections:

Detroit: 7,736 cases | 641 deaths
County outside city: 6,088 | 501 deaths

(Graphic: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services)

Totals are from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The caseload includes recovered patients.

Statewide, Michigan now has 32,000 confirmed cases and 2,468 deaths. The addition of 576 new cases Monday is an increase of just 1.8% -- lowest in a month that began with a 23% rise April 1. And the number of new deaths (77) is the lowest since April 5.

Regionally, the three-county Metro Detroit area has 76.6% of Michigan cases (24,515) and 82% of Covid fatalities (2,030)

Johns Hopkins' raw-number rankings don't show per-capita infection and death rates, based on size. Here's how the five with most fatalities compare in 2019 Census Bureau population estimates:

Queens County (NYC): 2,646 deaths | 2.3 million
Kings County (Brooklyn): 2,606 | 2.5 million
Bronx County (NYC): 1,975 | 1.4 million
New York (Manhattan): 1,148 | 1.6 million
Wayne County: 1,119 | 1.7 million

Confirmed cases in the counties with Chicago, Manhattan and Detroit.

These figures from the Maryland university show how Wayne has more cases that in larger L.A. and Miami-Dade counties, and how it surpasses the counties around Newark and Philadelphia:

Wayne County: 13,912 cases (9th nationally) | 1.7 million people
Los Angeles County: 12,341 (11th) | 10 million
Essex County (Newark): 10,304 (13th) | 799,000
Miami-Dade: 9,354 (17th) | 2.7 million
Philadelphia: 9,214 (18th) | 1.6 million