Health

Bleak benchmark: Michigan passes 100,000 Covid cases, with 6,400+ deaths

August 28, 2020, 3:37 PM by  Alan Stamm

(Update of a Thursday post.)

It's an astounding number in a year that history won't forget: Over 100,000 people in Michigan have been diagnosed with coronavirus since mid-March, a daily tally of confirmed cases shows.

The vast majority -- 93.6% -- have survived. But 6,446 did not, including six deaths since Thursday.


(Graphic: Michigan Department of Health and Human Services)

The major milestone of 100,699 cases is reported Friday afternoon by the Department of Health and Human Services, which added 741 cases to its pandemic dashboard showing cases and deaths statewide, as well as by counties and two prison systems. 

The agency also tracks "probable cases" believed to involve Covid infections. Adding those unconfirmed figures pushes the totals to 110,343 cases and 6,706 deaths.

Here's where the tricounty Detroit area stands (not counting probable cases) five and a half months after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a statewide health emergency:  

  • City of Detroit: 14,533 confirmed cases, 1,606 deaths

  • Wayne County (outside Detroit): 16,287 cases, 1,266 deaths

  • Oakland: 17,694 cases, 1,157 deaths

  • Macomb: 12,454 cases, 964 deaths

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"Michigan now faces an acute risk of a second wave," Whitmer warned three weeks ago as she extended her emergency declaration through Sept. 4. "Life will not be back to normal for some time to come," says her Aug. 7 order, the 165th related to Covid since March 10. It added:

The health, economic, and social harms of the COVID-19 pandemic thus remain widespread and severe, and they continue to constitute a statewide emergency and disaster. Though local health departments have some limited capacity to respond to cases as they arise within their jurisdictions, state emergency operations are necessary to bring this pandemic under control in Michigan and to build and maintain infrastructure to stop the spread of Covid-19, trace infections, and to quickly direct additional resources to hot-spots as they emerge.

A state Court of Claims judge ruled in May that Whitmer has authority to extend the emergency without legislative OK. The Republican-led Legislature appealed and the Michigan Supreme Court plans to hear arguments next Wednesday, Sept. 2.



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