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Michigan
virus
cases
top
9,300;
new
ventilators
put to
work
By
ED WHITE
and
DAVID
EGGERT
apnews.com
DETROIT
- The
number
of
Michigan
residents
who have
contracted
COVID-19
crept
toward
10,000
on
Wednesday
— one of
the
highest
totals
in the
U.S. —
while
the
state
said
hundreds
of
ventilators
from the
federal
government
would be
quickly
put into
service,
especially
in
hard-hit
Detroit-area
hospitals.
Detroit
residents
make up
26% of
the
state’s
cases
and 83
of its
337
coronavirus-related
deaths.
Mayor
Mike
Duggan
credited
an
aggressive
testing
program,
including
a
drive-up
station
at the
former
state
fairgrounds,
and
predicted
higher
numbers
each
day.
He
acknowledged
that
Detroit
has a
“serious
problem”
with
infections,
but he
also
said it
was
“disturbing”
to read
stories
that it
might be
a hot
spot
because
of
poverty.
Duggan
noted
that
prosperous
areas in
Michigan,
New York
and
Massachusetts
are also
struggling
with
COVID-19,
the
disease
caused
by the
virus.
“Somebody
brought
the
virus
into
this
community
early
on,” the
mayor
said.
“It
spread
in this
community
before
we knew
what was
happening.
And the
places
in this
country
that are
getting
hit are
the
places
that
were
infected
first.”
THE
LATEST:
The
number
of
confirmed
COVID-19
cases
reported
statewide
jumped
Wednesday
by
1,719,
bringing
the
total
count to
9,334.
Meanwhile,
deaths
rose by
78,
which
was a
30%
increase.
Only a
few
states
have had
more
confirmed
cases.
Of
Michigan’s
cases,
80% have
been in
Wayne,
Oakland
and
Macomb
counties,
which
are in
the
Detroit
area.
Nearly
150
prisoners
and 25
staff
members
at
various
prisons
have
tested
positive,
the
state
Corrections
Department
said.
Meanwhile,
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer
declared
a
disaster
and
asked
lawmakers
to
extend
her
previous
emergency
declaration
by 70
days.
The
Legislature’s
approval
next
week,
needed
to keep
the
declaration
from
expiring
under
state
law,
would
allow
the
Democrat
to
stretch
a
stay-at-home
order,
although
the
order
might
not last
for 70
days.
Republican
Senate
Majority
Leader
Mike
Shirkey
said he
backs an
extension
of the
emergency,
but 70
days is
too
long,
and his
support
does not
transfer
to a
“lengthy”
continuation
of the
stay-home
measure.
The
governor
has
identified
ventilators
as a
critical
need.
Half of
the 400
breathing
machines
from the
government
will go
to
hospitals
in
southeastern
Michigan,
the
state
health
department
said.
For
most
people,
the
coronavirus
causes
mild or
moderate
symptoms,
such as
fever
and
cough
that
clear up
in two
to three
weeks.
Older
adults
and
people
with
existing
health
problems
are
among
those
particularly
susceptible
to more
severe
illness,
including
pneumonia.
A
University
of
Washington
model
cited by
the
White
House
projects
that
Michigan
could
see a
rapid
increase
in
hospitalizations
and
fatalities,
with
3,200
coronavirus-related
deaths
by May
1.
RARE
SIDE
EFFECT:
Henry
Ford
Health
System
reported
that it
had
nearly
600
COVID-19
patients
as of
Wednesday
morning.
It also
said a
58-year-old
woman
with the
virus
developed
a rare
form of
encephalitis
— acute
necrotizing
encephalitis
— a
central
nervous
infection
that
mostly
afflicts
children.
Dr.
Elissa
Fory, a
Henry
Ford
neurologist,
said all
hospitals
need to
be
aware.
“This
complication
is as
devastating
as
severe
lung
disease,”
Fory
said.
FLINT
CURFEW
The
mayor of
Flint
ordered
a 9 p.m.
to 6
a.m.
curfew,
starting
Thursday,
for 30
days. He
said too
many
people
have
been
gathering
in store
parking
lots,
raising
the risk
of
spreading
the
virus.
“Don’t
smoke
and
drink
plenty
of
water.
This
curfew
is so
important,”
said Dr.
Lawrence
Reynolds,
a local
physician
who
joined
Mayor
Sheldon
Neeley.
ROADS:
Whitmer
said
construction
projects
on state
roads
will
continue
as long
as
contractors
think
it’s
safe. A
trade
group,
the
Michigan
Infrastructure
&
Transportation
Association,
had
asked
her to
deem the
work as
nonessential.
There
will be
no
penalties
if work
is
delayed
due to
COVID-19
safety
measures
and
smaller
crews.
Contractors
can
request
that a
project
be
suspended.
AMAZON
PROTEST:
Some
workers
protested
conditions
at an
Amazon
warehouse
in
Romulus,
southwest
of
Detroit.
The
action
occurred
during a
shift
change.
At least
two
positive
COVID-19
cases
have
been
confirmed
there,
workers
said.
“We’re
working
through
a
crisis,
not by
choice
but by
necessity,”
Tonya
Ramsay
said.
Amazon
defended
the
conditions,
telling
The
Detroit
News
that it
has been
“tripling
down on
deep
cleaning”
and
changing
procedures
so
employees
were
keeping
a safe
distance
from
each
other.
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