Coronavirus

The Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi has been selected as the site for a COVID-19 field hospital.

According to the state, after the conversion, the Suburban Collection Showplace will provide 250,000 square feet and bed space to accommodate up to 1,000 COVID-19 cases.

Michigan has crossed another grim milestone in the COVID-19 outbreak.

For the first time, more than 100 Michiganders have died from the disease in a 24-hour period.

State health officials reported Monday an additional 110 people have died of coronavirus. A big leap from the 77 deaths reported Sunday.

As Michigan prepares for an expected surge in COVID-19 cases, many hospitals, particularly in Southeast Michigan, are starting to become overwhelmed.

The TCF Center in Detroit is being converted into a field hospital, and the University of Michigan is planning to convert its indoor track field into a field hospital as well. As hospitals and health systems scramble to find more beds, ventilators, and PPE, the question comes up: could VA hospitals and medical centers function as backups during this surge?

The final whistle has blown for high school winter and spring sports in Michigan.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association announced Friday it is cancelling the remainder of the 2019-20 Winter and Spring sports seasons. 

The association says the decision is in compliance with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “state of disaster” directive closing K-12 schools and moving education online for the remainder of the school year. 

An employee at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit has died due to the new coronavirus. They were in their 70s. The VA did not provide any other details as to underlying health conditions due to “privacy concerns.”

This employee is at least the second known medical professional to die of COVID-19 in Detroit. 

Michiganders heard Governor Gretchen Whitmer address a wide range of topics related to the state’s response of the COVID-19 outbreak during an hour long program broadcast Thursday night on television and radio stations, including Michigan Radio. 

Construction is underway for a COVID-19 field hospital at Detroit's TCF Center.

As of April 1, Michigan health officials said there were 9,334 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Michigan and 337 confirmed deaths. In Detroit alone, there were over 2,400 cases and 83 deaths.

Those numbers are guaranteed to continue climbing over at least the next several weeks, pushing local hospitals past capacity.

For weeks, we've been hearing all about "flattening the curve." 

The idea is if everyone stays home and practices social distancing, the number of COVID-19 cases will increase at a rate that won't overwhelm the health care system. 

Starting Thursday, the city of Flint is imposing a curfew to try to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.   

Two weeks ago, Flint was untouched by the coronavirus pandemic. As of Wednesday, Flint and Genesee County have recorded 249 positive COVID-19 cases and eight deaths.  

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of disaster in Michigan. And she is asking the Legislature to extend her emergency powers to deal with the coronavirus outbreak that’s claimed more than 300 lives in Michigan.

Governor Whitmer sent a letter to House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake). She asked the Republican leaders to call votes to extend emergency powers she’s exercised on her own until now.

Michigan’s prison factories are re-tooling to produce personal protective equipment for prisoners and staff. According to MDOC, this is to slow the spread of COVID-19 across Michigan’s twenty-nine prisons.

There are three prison factories in Michigan: a Michigan State Industries factory at Ionia Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan State Industries Print Shop and Mattress Factory at the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility in Jackson, and Michigan State Industries garment factory at the Boyer Road Correctional Facility in Carson City. Those factories are now producing cloth surgical masks, gloves, and gowns.

A Michigan Department of Corrections transportation officer died Tuesday due to complications from COVID-19. The MDOC did not disclose the officer’s age or if there were underlying health conditions, only that the officer worked at a facility in Detroit.

Chris Gautz is the public information officer for MDOC. He says the department is taking a lot of precautions to prevent the further spread of the virus in Michigan’s 29 prisons.

Detroit continues to be hit hard by COVID-19.  But Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says efforts are underway to provide testing to every Detroiter who needs it.

As of Tuesday, Detroit reported 2,086 COVID-19 cases, and 73 deaths.

Henry Ford Health System says it’s been using the drug hydroxychloroquine to treat severe cases of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients.

Hydroxychloroquine recently gained a large amount of attention after President Donald Trump mentioned the anti-arthritis and anti-malaria drug in his March 20 press conference as being promising. Since then, there has been much discussion as to whether the drug is actually effective in treating COVID-19.

The University of Michigan health system is making plans for a field hospital for an expected overflow of COVID-19 patients.

Officials hope to transform an indoor track facility at U of M into a field hospital by April 9th or 10th. 

Last week, Congress passed the CARES act, a $2 trillion stimulus package intended to provide relief to communities and workers impacted by the new coronavirus pandemic. Thanks to that bill, Governor Gretchen Whitmer was able to sign an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor that expanded unemployment benefits to self-employed workers, 1099 independent contractors, and gig and low-wage workers.

The Michigan Department of Corrections has placed inmates at four prisons on partial lockdown as the number of inmates testing positive for COVID-19 rose over the weekend.

As of 6:00 p.m. Monday, 27 inmates at Macomb Correctional Facility tested positive for COVID-19, and 29 at Parnell Correctional Facility, a minimum security men's prison in Jackson County.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed an executive order that makes it easier for health care workers to handle more medical duties. It’s part of the state’s response to the growing shortage of health care workers during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The order relaxes some rules to allow specialists, nurses, and physician assistants to take on more responsibilities to help address the growing shortage of health care workers.

This week, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says Detroit will become one of the first cities in the nation to use rapid-response COVID-19 testing kits.

Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories is providing the tests. They were just approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and can give results in as little as 15 minutes.

President Donald Trump approved Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s request Monday to mobilize up to 3,000 Michigan National Guardsmen for up to 90 days. 

The call up is part of the governor’s COVID-19 response plan.

This is the worst day so far in the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan.

New state data shows the number of deaths increased by 52 to 184. And for the first time, more than 1,000 people tested positive for coronavirus in a 24-hour period. Michigan’s total number of coronavirus positive cases is now 6,498.

Small Michigan businesses struggling to stay afloat amid the COVID-19 pandemic are getting a helping hand this week from local and state government agencies.

In the wake of the new coronavirus pandemic, hospitals across the state are now screening all employees before they start their shifts.

That screening usually comes in the form of a survey, where they self-report recent domestic and international travel, contact with someone who has COVID-19, and symptoms of COVID-19 like a dry cough and a fever. But are hospitals actually taking their employee’s temperatures?

Today, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Support Act, or the CARES Act. The $2 trillion stimulus is the third piece of coronavirus relief legislation passed by Congress.

The bill contained $150 billion in relief money for individual states. It is estimated that Michigan will receive $3.8 billion in aid from the bill.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan warned on Thursday that southeast Michigan is already a national COVID-19 hotspot—and the worst is still to come.

Detroit itself is a huge hotspot within southeast Michigan. The city is reporting 888 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday. 19 people have already died.